Amendments to Art. were adopted in the second reading. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offenses

A draft law was adopted in the second reading, specifying the conditions for bringing to responsibility for demonstrating prohibited symbols.

On February 12, 2020, the State Duma adopted in the second reading a bill amending the text of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (propaganda or public display of Nazi symbols or symbols of extremist organizations).

This bill was introduced to Parliament in December 2018 by a group of deputies headed by Elena Yampolskaya at the initiative of the All-Russian Popular Front (ONF); December 11, 2019 he was accepted in the first reading. By the second reading it has undergone changes.

According to the text of the bill adopted in the second reading, the disposition and sanctions under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses remain unchanged, only a note is provided that the provisions of the article " do not apply to cases of using Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols similar to Nazi paraphernalia or symbolism to the point of confusion, or paraphernalia or symbolism extremist organizations in which a negative attitude towards ideology is formed Nazism and extremism and no signs of propaganda or justification Nazi and extremist ideology ".

included in the same package of the law "On Amendments to Article 6 of the Federal Law "On the perpetuation of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945” and Article 1 of the Federal Law “On Counteracting Extremist activities" was signed President in December 2019.

Note that the draft of the new Code of Administrative Offenses, developed by the Ministry of Justice and made public at the end of January, provides for changes in the disposition and sanctions of the article on prohibited symbolism, we wrote about it here .

On the whole, we welcome the lifting of the total ban on displaying prohibited symbols, however, it is not entirely clear to us how it is proposed to establish whether, in a particular case, "negative attitude" to the Nazi ideology. We fear that this the clause will not cover all cases of displaying prohibited symbols without a purpose propaganda of the corresponding ideology. To prevent illegal persecution, we proposed to directly register in federal laws and Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, which punishes only the demonstration of prohibited symbols, aimed at such propaganda.

Sources

• The State Duma in the second reading approved the abolition of the fine for Nazi symbols in case of condemnation of Nazism // TASS. February 12, 2020
• Draft Law No. 606698-7 "On Amendments to Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation" // CREATION GAS "Lawmaking". February 12, 2020