Translated material
New old law on rallies
On March 31, 2004, the State Duma adopted in the first reading the law "On Meetings, Rallies, Demonstrations, Marches and Pickets", which prohibits holding rallies and pickets near administrative buildings.
It is forbidden to hold rallies, pickets and marches near administrative buildings, foreign embassies, highways, representative offices of international organizations, children's institutions, cemeteries, as well as everywhere where "the safety of citizens during a public event" is not ensured .
The law replaces the current permit procedure with a notification one (obliges the organizers of a rally to notify the authorities of its holding no later than 10 days before the date of the event). But a notification about an event may not be accepted if it is not submitted in the form or if the goals of the rally, in the opinion of officials, are contrary to the Constitution, violate the norms of morality and ethics, etc. Other restrictions are also set.
Few people object to the fact that it is necessary to adopt a law on this topic, because, as Deputy Minister of Justice V. Sidorenko said, today the holding of mass events is regulated by acts of 1988-1993. However, such severe restrictions on holding mass actions cannot but cause concern, especially since a few days earlier the State Duma withdrew a more liberal bill on the same topic from consideration.
In response to numerous protests, it was said ( by Gryzlov himself ) that the list of restrictions on the venue of events would be drastically reduced at the second reading. So it is right to consider the situation as a "trial run".
Recall that the law on rallies was adopted by the Duma and approved by the Federation Council back in 1995. However, then Boris Yeltsin did not sign it without imposing a veto. Thus, Yeltsin violated the Constitution and at the same time created a legal conflict in which the actually adopted law could not enter into force. The draft law, which was adopted in the first reading by the State Duma on March 31, inherits that law in many respects, including the ban on rallies near government buildings, overpasses, etc.
The full text of the bill can be found on the website Legislature.ru **
Sources