The Ministry of Justice has developed a draft document that allows unscheduled inspections of persons associated with “foreign agents” to be carried out with notification to the prosecutor’s office, but without a court decision. The document was published on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts.
“The document was developed by the Ministry of Justice in connection with the signing on July 24 by the President of Russia of a law on strengthening control over the implementation of legislation on “foreign agents”. The new law provides that unscheduled inspections may be carried out against those who help “foreign agents” if the Ministry of Justice has received information about their violation of the legislation on “foreign agents,” explains OVD-Info lawyer Elena Makarova.
The explanatory note to the project notes that unscheduled checks will be made on persons associated with “foreign agents” if “they, by their actions/inactions, contributed to the violation by foreign agents of the legislation of the Russian Federation on foreign agents.”
“In fact, we come to the conclusion that following a “report” (denunciation) to the Ministry of Justice, an unscheduled inspection can come to anyone at all,” adds Makarova.
- The legislation on “foreign agents” is becoming stricter every year. On December 1, 2022, the law “On control over the activities of persons under foreign influence” came into force, as well as numerous legislative amendments to “foreign agency” regulation. You can read about the list of “affiliated persons”, new registers and other innovations in the law on “foreign agents” in the analysis of OVD-Info .
-
In addition, Vladimir Putin signed a law on imprisonment for a term of up to five years for “foreign agents” who were brought to justice twice in a year for violating the procedure for the activities of a “foreign agent” (Article 19.34 of the Administrative Code).