On Wednesday, the government submitted a bill to the State Duma that would allow unscheduled inspections of non-profit organizations (NPOs), according to a document posted on the website of the Automated System for Supporting Legislative Activity .

Bill No. 304073-6 "On Amending Article 32 of the Federal Law "On Non-Commercial Organizations" and Recognizing as Invalid the Third to Seventh Paragraphs of Subparagraph "G" of Paragraph 5 of Article 2 of the Federal Law "On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Regarding the Regulation of the Activities of Non-Commercial Organizations Performing the Functions of a Foreign Agent" is under consideration, according to the document.

It is proposed to recognize as invalid the paragraphs that describe the grounds for conducting unscheduled inspections of NPOs, namely: expiration of the period for eliminating the violation contained in the warning previously issued to the NPO; receipt by the authorized body of appeals about facts indicating the presence of signs of extremism in the activities of the NPO performing the functions of a foreign agent; receipt of information from government agencies and local governments about the violation by the NPO performing the functions of a foreign agent of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the sphere of its activities and the presence of an order "of the head of the authorized body, issued on the basis of the prosecutor's request to conduct an unscheduled inspection as part of supervision of compliance with laws based on materials and appeals received by the prosecutor's office."

The law on the status of foreign agent for NGOs came into force in November 2012. This status is required to be obtained by organizations that are involved in politics and receive funding from abroad. It has been officially stated many times that the purpose of this law is to clarify the situation with where NGOs get their money. In the spring of 2013, the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Justice conducted mass inspections of non-profit organizations across the country. The first NGO to have an administrative case opened against it after the new legislation was adopted was the association for the protection of voters' rights "Golos". The court sided with the inspectors and fined the organization.

In early June, it became known that the Ministry of Justice had developed a bill on additional grounds for unscheduled inspections of NGOs. The amendments have already been approved by the government commission on legislative activity. One of the additional reasons for inspection is proposed to be an appeal from citizens, legal entities, or information from government agencies and even the media that there are signs of extremism in the organization's activities. NGOs can also be inspected if government agencies or local governments receive information that they are violating Russian laws.

The government wants to allow unscheduled inspections of NGOs