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Parliament committee backs amendment on immunity for Russia’s ex-presidents

In line with the amendment former heads of state could be stripped of their immunity in line with the procedure for impeachment of president of Russia

A session of the Russian State Duma Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

A session of the Russian State Duma

© Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. The State Duma’s Committee on State Building and Legislation supported at the Wednesday session the amendment to the Russian Constitution making former presidents of the Russian Federation immune from prosecution.

The amendment authored by some deputies of the State Duma (lower house of parliament) and members of the Federation Council (upper house) is meant to be added as Article 92.1 to the constitution’s Chapter 4. Under the amendment, after presidents of Russia end their tenure, they will be granted immunity. Federal laws stipulate other guarantees for former presidents. Nevertheless, former heads of state could be stripped of their immunity in line with the procedure for impeachment of president of Russia (under Article 93 of Russia’s Constitution).

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Russian lower house rejects amendment on renaming president as ‘supreme ruler’

Currently, the presidential immunity regulations and the procedure stripping a Russian president, who has ended their tenure, of the immunity are enshrined in a corresponding federal law. At the Tuesday session of the parliamentary working group, Chair of the Russian Women’s Union Yekaterina Lakhova put forward a proposal of enshrining the principle of presidential immunity for Russia’s ex-presidents in the Constitution. According to Lakhova, the regulation will become a constitutional guarantee for presidential independence.

On Wednesday, the committee considered amendments to Chapters 4 and 6 of Russia’s Constitution (the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation).

Russia’s State Duma on January 23 unanimously approved a bill on amendments to the Constitution in the first reading. Among other issues, the bill expands the powers of parliament and Constitutional Court, prohibits top officials from having other countries’ residence permits, limits the number of presidential terms of office, establishes supremacy of the national Constitution over international agreements and enhances the social responsibilities of the state. Also, the presidential bill envisages a national public vote on the law on changes to the Constitution.

The second reading had been initially scheduled for February 11. As many amendments began to pour in, the collection of amendments was first prolonged until February 14 and then until March 2.

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