The President will be given the authority to protect citizens from illegal actions of foreign bodies

Amendments were made to the State Duma, which would give the president “the authority to protect Russian citizens in the event that foreign or international bodies make decisions that contradict Russian law.” This was reported by the press service of the State Duma. Also, according to her, amendments to the Criminal Code (CC) have been developed, “designed to ensure responsibility for facilitating the execution of decisions of such organizations.”

Adjustments, as reported by two interlocutors of Vedomosti in the State Duma, will be made to two bills that are being prepared for the second reading. The first one is about improving the procedure for completing the peacekeeping contingent (introduced by the government on February 22 and adopted in the first reading on April 4). And the second is amendments to the Criminal Code on clarifying responsibility for a terrorist attack and sabotage (introduced by the White House on November 10, 2022, approved on December 6).

On April 7, in his Telegram channel, Vasily Piskarev, chairman of the Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, already announced a number of changes that will be made to this bill, which has already been “adopted in the first reading.” In particular, at that time there was talk of a life sentence for treason, as Vedomosti wrote in detail.

On April 10, the head of the State Duma Committee on State Construction, Pavel Krasheninnikov, said that the draft law, with amendments to the Criminal Code, would be submitted for second reading on April 13. As a result, it was decided to wait for new amendments, which were reported by the press service of the State Duma, says a Vedomosti source on Okhotny Ryad.

These amendments were prepared by State Duma deputies headed by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and leaders of five Duma factions. Volodin stated that “this decision will allow us to protect the country from the illegal, hostile and aggressive actions of various international organizations.”

One of the authors of the amendments, Piskarev, wrote on his Telegram channel that “the persecution of Russians, combined with sanctions, which have already been lost, unfortunately, has become commonplace abroad.” “Today, some international organizations imitating justice are trying to pull up this campaign launched by the United States and its satellites. But they have nothing to do with justice,” the deputy wrote.

Volodin held a meeting with Vice Speaker Irina Yarovaya, Chairman of the Defense Committee Andrei Kartapolov and Piskarev to prepare changes to the legislation prohibiting the activities of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Russia, the press service of the State Duma reported on April 3.

Volodin noted that we are talking about the introduction of a ban on public calls for the execution of decisions of foreign bodies and cooperation with them. The speaker said that there should be criminal liability for this in the form of fines and imprisonment. Volodin proposed to give President Volodin the authority to protect Russian citizens in the event that international bodies make decisions that contradict Russian law.

The speaker began to show activity in this direction after the ICC in The Hague on March 17 issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin and the Ombudsman for Children Maria Lvova-Belova. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov immediately after the decision of the ICC said that Russia, like a number of states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court. “And accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null and void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of law. This is the only thing I would like and could say about this decision,” he told reporters.

The ICC is a “quasi-judicial” structure and legally react “to the ICC’s PR campaigns <...> the idea is empty and meaningless, ”said Andrey Klishas, ​​chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, after that. Therefore, it is more important to punish for sanctions, and “with calls to fight, of course, it is safer.” He wrote on his Telegram channel that on April 7, 2022, he and other senators submitted an amendment to the Criminal Code to the State Duma on responsibility for the implementation of restrictive measures against Russia. But it has not yet been considered, Klishas emphasized.

Amendment to Art. 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of authority) implies sanctions for the use by a person of official powers contrary to the interests of this organization and in order to derive benefits and advantages, “in order to enforce the decision of a foreign state, an alliance of foreign states or an international organization to impose restrictive measures against Russia.” The bill did not even pass the first reading.

The interlocutor in the State Duma explains that the parliamentary amendments concern those who assist in the implementation of the decisions of the ICC and similar organizations. A source close to the State Duma noted that the initiative of the deputies is not connected with the initiative of Klishas and other senators.

Russia, on the issue of ICC decisions, obviously decided to follow the “American path”, Alexei Ispolinov, an expert in international economic law, explained to Vedomosti. He recalled that the threat of prosecution of US military personnel for their actions in Afghanistan forced US President Donald Trump to react as harshly as possible and apply personal sanctions to employees of the ICC prosecutor’s office. “Apparently, the first step in this direction has already been taken,” says Ispolinov.

Ispolinov explained that the United States was an active supporter of the creation of the ICC, but changed its position sharply after the failure of attempts to impose a ban on prosecution of American military personnel. Washington proposed to make the jurisdiction of the ICC dependent on the consent of the UN Security Council or the consent of the state of which the accused is a citizen.

Having failed, the United States, under the threat of depriving American assistance, concluded about 100 bilateral agreements with other states refusing to transfer American military personnel to the jurisdiction of the ICC. In 2002, the US passed the American Service-Members Protection Act, authorizing the executive branch to take “any available measures” to release US military personnel detained by the ICC.

The main purpose of giving the president these powers is to speed up the procedure for refusing to enforce decisions of foreign or interstate bodies, says Anastasia Kucherena, managing partner of Key Consulting Group. In fact, in a more abbreviated form, the Constitutional Court already has such authority, which, since the amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 2020, acquired the right to resolve the issue of the possibility of enforcing any decisions of interstate bodies, as well as foreign or international courts (including arbitration courts). ), imposing obligations on Russia. But the authority of the body is largely limited by the fact that the check is carried out precisely for compliance with the Constitution, the expert says. “Amendments in their current state provide the president with almost identical opportunities,” she said.