The capital's new code of administrative offenses provides for a fine for "molesting citizens for the purpose of religious agitation"

On May 24, the deputies of the Moscow City Duma adopted in the first reading the draft Code of the City of Moscow on administrative offenses. Article 3.8 (“Hailing citizens in public places”) of the new code reads: “Violation of public order, expressed in molestation of citizens for the purpose of buying and selling, exchanging or acquiring things in any other way, as well as for the purpose of divination, begging, male and female prostitution, religious agitation or imposing other services in public places - shall entail a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of from one to three times the minimum wage.

Sergei Chugunov, a lawyer with the Slavic Legal Center, notes that this provision contradicts at least two articles of the Russian Constitution. “Thus, Article 28,” the message on the SOC website says, “guarantees everyone the right to “have and disseminate religious and other beliefs,” and Article 55 notes that the rights and freedoms of a person and citizen can only be limited by federal law in "to the extent necessary" in order to protect the morality, health, rights and legitimate interests of others. The dissemination of religious beliefs by citizens, even in an intrusive form, cannot be limited by a regional law, which is the draft of the capital's Code of Administrative Offenses.

Moreover, as Sergei Chugunov noted, it is not clear how the norm of the code on "molestation" will be applied, since it is not clear what "molestation" is in the legal sense and in what cases "molestation" violates public order. <...> Using essentially the colloquial expression "molestation", the deputies of the Moscow City Duma, Chugunov emphasized, did not take care of who and how will determine the moment when the words spoken by the preacher develop into "molestation", for which an administrative fine is imposed.

On March 14, 2007 the draft Code was adopted in the second reading. One of the amendments also concerns the mentioned article on "imposing services": as Gazeta.ru reports, now for "violation of public order, expressed in obsessive actions of a citizen carried out against other citizens against their will, for the purpose of buying and selling, exchanging or acquiring things in a different way, as well as for the purpose of divination, begging, male and female prostitution, religious agitation or the imposition of other services in public places", a fine of one to five minimum wages is provided.

Sources

• The norm of the Moscow Administrative Code on the imposition of a fine for "molesting" for the purpose of religious agitation is contrary to the Constitution of the Russian Federation // Slavic Legal Center. 2006. May 25.
• Petrenko V. Muscovites will be fined for "obscene proposals" // Gazeta.Ru. 2007. March 14.