KS: The Law on "Foreign Agents" does not contradict the Constitution

The law that obliges non -profit organizations with foreign financing to register as "foreign agents" does not contradict the constitution. According to Vedomosti, such a decision was made by the Constitutional Court. According to the court, the law is aimed at ensuring the awareness of all interested parties about the availability of financial support for the organization.

The legal structure "Foreign Agent" does not imply a negative assessment, and the negative meanings that have developed in Soviet times are devoid of constitutional and legal meaning.

A complaint to the law on "agents" was filed by several public organizations and the Commissioner for Human Rights Vladimir Lukin. According to the applicants, the law violates several articles of the Constitution, including the right to freedom of speech and to freedom of membership in organizations. The terms contained in the law (for example, "political activity") do not meet the requirement of the certainty of legal norms, which leads to abuse. And the obligation to recognize themselves as a “foreign agent” forces human rights activists to testify against themselves, since the term “foreign agent” has a negative coloring, the applicants insist.

Lukin also referred to an inadequate measure of responsibility: a minimum fine for violation of the law on foreign agents - 300 thousand rubles. With this argument, the KS agreed and declared an unconstitutional relevant article in the Code of Administrative Offenses.