What State Duma deputies will do in July

The State Duma last week approved the calendar for consideration of issues for July. In the last month before the summer holidays, the deputies plan to discuss a wide range of topics – from the fate of stray dogs and the introduction of labor education in schools to the next amendments to the legislation on foreign agents and the fight against corruption.

Last week, the State Duma approved a calendar for the consideration of issues for the last month of the spring session (.doсx). It will last longer than previously thought (until August 6), but the added week will be regional. In total, the deputies must hold nine plenary sessions before going on vacation.

On the first of them July 11 The Duma intends to consider in the second reading the amendments to the law on the civil service introduced by the Parliament of Bashkiria and adopted in the first reading on May 18. The authors propose to increase the age limit for civil service from 65 to 70 years for the heads of the main group of positions in the apparatus of the legislative bodies of the regions. At the same time, the decision to extend the term of service will be made by the official who appointed the official in agreement with the chairman of the legislative assembly.

Also in the plans for July 11 — amendments to the Criminal Code, specifying the limits of necessary self-defence. They were introduced back in May last year by members of the LDPR faction and their fellow party members from the Federation Council, who proposed that any actions of a citizen in the event of illegal entry into his home be considered lawful. The government did not support the bill, stating in its response that it “excessively expands the boundaries of the right to necessary defense.” The Supreme Court noted that the proposal of the parliamentarians “deserves attention”, but “does not fully meet the requirement of proportionality in the protection of property.”

On July 13, the deputies plan to adopt in the second reading a government bill on endowing the Russian Movement of Children and Youth (“Movement of the First”) with the powers of the main manager and recipient of budget funds

The document also gives the movement the right to provide subsidies to its regional branches. The draft was submitted to the Duma on May 19 and adopted in the first reading on June 21. A July 18 the House will consider the second reading of the amendment to the law on education, the purpose of which is to make the labor education of schoolchildren a part of the educational program, and the consent of their parents will no longer be required to involve them in socially useful work. The draft was adopted in the first reading on June 28. Recall, the State Council of Udmurtia was the first to come up with the idea to introduce compulsory labor education in May 2022, appealing to the positive experience of the Soviet school. A year later, a corresponding bill was introduced by a group of State Duma deputies, which included United Russia members and communists. In the explanatory note, they pointed out that “only a child who knows how and loves to work can, in adulthood, take place in a profession, in a family, in society.”

Also on July 18 a second reading of high-profile amendments to the law on the responsible treatment of animals and other legislative acts is scheduled, allowing regions to independently choose a way to control stray animals “taking into account geographical, climatic, socio-economic and other specifics.” The bill was introduced by a group of deputies headed by ex-Minister of Natural Resources, Chairman of the Duma Committee on Ecology Dmitry Kobylkin (United Russia). Document called there is a lot of controversy during the first reading, since its wording does not give a clear answer whether it is possible to euthanize stray dogs.

On the same day, the deputies are going to consider the bill in the first reading. on declaring null and void all transactions made since 2010 on the transfer of religious property into private hands and on its return to state property. The document was submitted to the Duma on May 30 by United Russia members Pyotr Tolstoy and Anna Kuznetsova, Sergei Gavrilov (KPRF), Vladislav Davankov (New People) and Leonid Slutsky (LDPR). In the explanatory note, they point out the inadmissibility of a legal vacuum that allows “the sale by the state or local government of religious property to a private owner”, which “has the right to repurpose a religious object for use for purposes incompatible with the religious purpose of the object (for example, temples can be used for placing restaurants, bars, fitness clubs, etc.)”. According to the deputies, this state of affairs “may lead to insulting the feelings of believers (Article 148 of the Criminal Code)”.

Consideration in the second reading of two bills from the “anti-agency” package is scheduled for the second half of July. contributed at the end of April, deputies from the Duma commission for combating foreign interference in the affairs of Russia. The first of them (adopted in the first reading on June 22, is in the plan for July 19) permits the activity on the territory of Russia only of those foreign and international non-governmental organizations that have Russian subdivisions officially registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Otherwise, participation in such an NGO will be punished administratively and criminally.

And on July 26, deputies will consider a bill that deprives foreign agents not only of financial support, as it is now, but also of property support from the state, and also prohibits citizens and organizations from helping agents bypass the restrictions established for them.

For the first time, the Ministry of Justice will issue a warning to violators, and then they can be punished with fines. True, the corresponding amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses, also adopted in the first reading, are not yet in the calendar for July.

Finally, 26 July The Duma will consider in the second reading a government bill, according to which an official dismissed from office due to loss of confidence will not be able to return to civil service or get a job in a state-owned company. The draft was adopted in the first reading on May 23 along with the corresponding amendments to the Labor Code, which were also not included in the calendar.

Ksenia Veretennikova