Justice Ministry asks for more time to develop legislation on ‘undesirable’ NGOs

The Justice Ministry has asked the Duma to delay until the spring the second reading of legislation that would create a government registry of all “undesirable” foreign and international organizations operating inside Russia.

According to the head of the Duma’s constitutional committee, Vladimir Pligin, Russia’s Justice Ministry has asked the parliament to extend the bill’s amendment process to March 6. Pligin says his committee will review the request within the next two weeks.

Sources inside the Duma say the current legislation might face significant revisions, before it returns to the floor for another vote. The text has already been amended to exclude Russian citizens working for foreign companies and living abroad. It’s also assumed that the law won’t extend to commercial organizations.

The constitutional committee originally planned to adopt its amendments [to the legislation on “undesirable” foreign and international organizations operating inside Russia] before February 20.

RBC

• The law on undesirable organizations was submitted to the Duma in November 2014. On January 20, 2015, the Duma approved a first draft of the law.
• If signed into law, the legislation would recognize certain organizations as “undesirable,” based on decisions by the Attorney General and Justice Ministry. Such organizations would be banned from operating inside Russia, and forbidden from distributing their materials in Russia, including through the Internet.
• For organizing activities the Attorney General deems undesirable, organizations risk a fine of 20,000 rubles (about $300). For such activities committed after an organization is blacklisted, members of the group face criminal liability and as many as eight years in prison.