The government introduces automatic approval of draft by-laws

Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Grigorenko submitted to the government a draft resolution with changes to the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, establishing the procedure for “auto-approval” of draft regulatory legal acts necessary for the implementation of laws. Vedomosti has reviewed the document.

The government regulations are supplemented by a clause according to which, if the coordinating body fails to present its position within 10 days, the act sent to the department is considered approved and can be submitted to the government.

This norm does not apply to projects on the conclusion of international treaties, defense and security, integration of new regions into the legal system of Russia, to acts introduced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and other law enforcement agencies, as well as to documents providing for Russia’s expenditure obligations.

If the department, whose position was not received on time, later submitted conceptual comments to the government, then its head has the right to submit a report to the Deputy Prime Minister “for making a decision on finalizing the document.”

As Grigorenko, who heads the government apparatus, explains, this decision will reduce the time required for preparing draft by-laws. The “auto-negotiation” experiment was launched in April of this year.

A year ago, the State Duma Control Committee complained about the delay in the government’s development of by-laws, without which the adopted laws do not work. In particular, in June 2019, deputies complained about the delay in preparing acts for the law on the responsible treatment of animals. Vladimir Burmatov, who then headed the environmental committee, reported that according to the law, from January 1, 2020, shelters for stray animals should be created in the regions, but due to the lack of federal requirements, the regions could not begin this activity.

This amendment to the government regulations continues Grigorenko’s course to reduce bureaucratic barriers in the work of the Cabinet, relieves ministries and disciplines them, notes first deputy head of the Duma control committee Mikhail Romanov (United Russia).

Political scientist Pavel Sklyanchuk believes that the need to introduce an accelerated procedure for issuing regulations was the result, among other things, of parliamentary control by the State Duma. “But it may also have side effects – one-sidedness of legal regulation, the spread of the informal practice of ministries discussing documents on a routine basis, an increase in the transition period for the entry into force of adopted draft federal laws,” the expert noted.