The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill on the protection of state security

The deputies adopted the amendments to the Criminal Code in the first reading. The bill will be finalized by the second reading.

On June 14, 2022, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill to amend the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes. It provides for changes in legislation in the field of state security. The bill was submitted to the State Duma on May 25 by deputies Vasily Piskarev, Ernest Valeev, Andrey Kartapolov, Andrey Krasov and Anatoly Vyborny.

The deputies proposed the following amendments to the Criminal Code:

• Art. 208 of the Criminal Code (organization of an illegal armed group) to add part 3, according to which to punish citizens and stateless persons living in Russia for participation in any armed conflicts abroad, "contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation." Proposed punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 12 to 20 years with a fine in the amount of 500 thousand rubles or income for a period of up to three years or without it and with restriction of liberty for a term of up to two years;
• effect of Art. 275 of the Criminal Code (treason) to extend to the transition to the side of the enemy in the conditions of an armed conflict, hostilities or other actions with the use of weapons and military equipment, in which the Russian Federation takes part;
• supplement the Criminal Code with a new article, art. 275.1 of the Criminal Code , which will punish a citizen of the Russian Federation for "confidential cooperation with a special service of a foreign state, an international or foreign organization, or with their representatives." It is proposed to understand such cooperation as "secretly establishing and maintaining contact" in order to provide "assistance in activities known to be directed against the security of the Russian Federation." International or foreign organizations with which it is forbidden to cooperate will include organizations acting "in the interests" of a foreign intelligence service, as well as PMCs. As a punishment, it is proposed to establish imprisonment for a term of two to eight years with a fine of up to a million rubles or income for a period of up to three years or without it, as well as with restriction of liberty for a term of up to two years or without it. Those who "voluntarily and in a timely manner" reported cooperation and did not take any "actions to fulfill" the assignment received, are proposed to be exempted from liability;
• effect of Art. 276 of the Criminal Code (espionage) to extend to "transfer, collection, kidnapping or storage for the purpose of transferring to the enemy information that can be used against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and bodies of the Russian Federation, committed in the context of an armed conflict, hostilities or other actions with the use of weapons and military equipment with the participation of the Russian Federation";
• supplement the Criminal Code with a new article, art. 280.4 of the Criminal Code (public calls for the implementation of activities directed against the security of the state).
• Under part 1 of this article for public calls to carry out activities, directed against the security of the Russian Federation, or to obstruct the exercise by authorities and their officials of their powers to ensure the security of the Russian Federation, it is proposed to punish either with a fine of 100 to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of income for a period of one to three years, or with imprisonment for a term of two to four years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years or without it;
• Under part 2, for the same acts committed by a group of persons by prior agreement, by a person using his official position or using the media and the Internet, punishments are offered in the form of a fine from 300 thousand to a million rubles or income for a period of three to five years or in the form of imprisonment for a term of three to six years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to five years or without it and with restriction of liberty for a term of six months to two years or without it;

• Under part 3, the acts provided for by the first two parts, committed by an organized group or with the threat of violence, it is proposed to establish a punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of five to seven years with a fine in the amount of 500 thousand to 2.5 million rubles or in the amount of income for a period of three to five years, with or without restriction of liberty for a period of six months to two years, and with deprivation of the right hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to fifteen years or without it;

• effect of Art. 284.1 of the Criminal Code extend to participation in the activities of "undesirable organizations", their financing and organization of activities not only in Russia, but also in any other territories;

• toughen liability under Art. 359 of the Criminal Code (mercenarism):
• under part 1 (recruitment and training of a mercenary) - up to terms from 12 to 18 years in prison (now - from four to eight years);
• under part 2 (the same acts committed using one's official position or against a minor) - up to imprisonment for a term of 12 to 20 years (now - from seven to 15 years);
• under part 3 (participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict) - up to imprisonment for a term of seven to 15 years (now - from three to seven). This rule is also proposed not to be extended to cases that will be covered by the new Part 3 of Art. 208 of the Criminal Code (see above).

According to the amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, to investigate cases under the new Art. 208.4 of the Criminal Code will be able to both the investigators of the IC and the FSB, and under the new art. 275.1 of the Criminal Code - only the FSB. Consider cases under Part 3 of Art. 208, Art. 208.4 and 275 of the Criminal Code will have to be the courts of the subjects of the federation.

The Russian government made a number of comments in its response. Firstly, the government noted that for Art. 275.1 of the Criminal Code, it is necessary to clarify the range of a possible term of punishment in the form of imprisonment, taking into account the fact that the crime infringes on the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state and is serious. Secondly, from the point of view of the government in Part 3 of Art. 280.4 unreasonably included a qualifying sign of the commission of a crime with the threat of violence. Thirdly, it is noted that for hh. 1 and 2 Art. 359 of the Criminal Code mistakenly offers the same lower thresholds of punishment.

The government also emphasized that the draft law contains evaluative and not formally defined terms, in particular, "timely", "adversary" and "activities directed against the security of the Russian Federation", "which does not meet the constitutional requirements of clarity, certainty and unambiguity of legal norms" . In addition, the authors of the review noted that for a foreign citizen prosecuted for espionage, the country to which he transmits information is not an adversary.

The Supreme Court of Russia had no conceptual comments on the bill.

The legal department of the State Duma, which studied the bill for the first reading, pointed out a number of its problems. Firstly, the department noted that the addition to the title of Article 208 "Organization of an illegal armed formation or participation in it" with the words "either in an armed conflict or hostilities" does not correspond to the proposed disposition of the new part 3 of this article. Secondly, according to the authors of the conclusion, the new art. 280.4 of the Criminal Code will compete with Art. 280 of the Criminal Code (public calls for extremist activity), since extremism also includes obstruction of the lawful activities of state bodies, election commissions, organizations, combined with violence or the threat of its use. Thirdly, the department recommended excluding from the list of crimes, in the absence of signs of which liability would arise under Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code, a reference to Art. 205 of the Criminal Code (terrorism), as it does not intersect with the new norm. At the same time, it was proposed to include Part 3 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code (responsibility for calls for riots accompanied by violence). Finally, following the government, the legal department of the State Duma noted that the qualifying sign of making calls with the threat of violence "is not typical for this kind of crime and is not contained in any of the similar structures" (Articles 205.2, 280, 280.1, 280.3, 354 UK), as well as that for hh. 1 and 2 Art. 359 of the Criminal Code should not offer the same lower thresholds of punishment.

Irina Pankina, co-rapporteur on the project, noted in her speech that the State Construction Committee supported the concept of the draft law, but drew attention to the need to refine it. 14 days are allotted for submission of amendments. Sources

• Draft Law No. 130406-8 "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation" (in order to improve the criminal law protection of the national interests of the Russian Federation, the rights and freedoms of citizens from new forms of criminal activity and threats to state security) // CREATION GAS "Lawmaking". 2022. June 14.