Return of visiting visas

Than the president’s new decree on the procedure for traveling abroad threatens lawyers

On May 20, the president approved the “Regulation on the preliminary notification of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (territorial security authority) and foreign intelligence services of the Russian Federation with certain categories of persons about traveling outside the Russian Federation”. Decree No. 429 details the provisions acting on February 1 mainly in relation to civil servants after the adoption of amendments to the laws “On state secret” and “On the procedure for leaving the Russian Federation and entry into the Russian Federation”.

Not only senators, deputies of the State Duma, the Legislations of the constituent entities of the Federation and judges are include “certain categories”, but also lawyers admitted to state secrets or “aware of special importance or top secret information”.

In accordance with the decree, all persons of the listed categories will have to at least 30 days before the planned departure abroad (except for urgent cases, if there are particularly good reasons), notify the FSB and SVR, and lawyers do the same through the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Justice. In the application, it will be necessary to indicate, in particular, the purpose of the departure, the terms of the planned stay, the “vehicle” and the address of stay abroad.

The presidential decree will not be written in the FSB and the SVR further in the FSB and the SVR, but it is obvious that these bodies will be authorized in one form or another to give permission to exit - in the manner established by their internal (top secret) instructions.

In fact, this is a return to the Soviet practice of output visas, but the increased technological level of sovereign services allows you to not put a stamp in a foreign passport, as in the USSR, but to make an electronic note, in the presence of which in the control system of the “GOSTAINA carrier” they simply wrapped back at border control.

For senators and deputies of the Duma, as well as for civil servants and employees of law enforcement agencies, there is no special news in this, but a light panic was held in the ranks of lawyers. Moreover, a month ago amendments were adopted to the law “On advocacy and advocacy”, in accordance with which travel abroad for more than a year may entail the deprivation of lawyer status (see commentary on the site for April 13), and the procedure for notification of leaving will be easier to track such fans to travel.

Obviously, not lawyers are the main target of the “position”, but why not at the same time spoil the life of their life, and thereby, of course, their client? Not all lawyers will want to risk the opportunity to spend a vacation abroad, and the investigating authorities in order to deprive them of such an opportunity, it is only necessary to assign a secrecy vulture.

It is not difficult to find the basis for this both in the content of the case on the merits (all the cases that appear in abundance about the “Stateizer”), and in the disclosure of the methods of confidential receipt of information or even classifying “foreign financing” to the state secret (there are real precedents: the affairs of “foreign agents” were still often “secret” from the hall of the court session of journalists and audience).

The lists of secret information, approved by ministries and departments, each in their field, are also secret and confused, and to assign the vulture to a criminal or even administrative case (and a civil or arbitration too), even after the lawyer has entered it, and in this case, in this case, he can no longer refuse to defend him.

Gathered on vacation to Turkey? Justify just in case the FSB through the Ministry of Justice, you never know what. And do not forget to pay for tickets with the possibility of a return - you can find out about the “results of consideration” already near the passport control booth at the airport.