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Parliament enhances immunity guarantees for ex-presidents

According to the new rules, former Russian presidents can be stripped of immunity only if the lower house of parliament brings formal charges against them

© Marat Abulkhatin/Russian State Duma Photo Service/TASS

MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. Russia’s State Duma (lower house) has adopted in the third and final reading a law stipulating that former Russian presidents can be stripped of immunity only if the lower house of parliament brings formal charges against them.

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Under the previous rules a former president could be stripped of immunity if indicted on charges of committing a grave crime during his tenure of office. The procedure is initiated by the chief of Russia’s Investigative Committee by means of sending a corresponding request to the State Duma, which may give its consent to terminating the immunity of the former head of state. The resolution is then forwarded to the Federation Council (upper house), which is obliged to consider the motion within three months.

However, according to the new constitutional provisions, the president can be ousted and the ex-president stripped of immunity by the Federation Council only on the condition of being charged by the State Duma of high treason or other serious crime and provided that the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court have confirmed that all rules of presenting the charges were observed.

New rules

In accordance with the adopted law an ex-president may be stripped of immunity if the State Duma puts forward charges of high treason or another serious offense. The Supreme Court and Constitutional Court are to confirm the charges were made in accordance with the established rules. On the basis of these accusations the Federation Council may rule that the former president can be stripped of immunity.

State Duma’s decision on bringing the charges or the Federation Council’s decision to strip a former president of immunity are to be made by two-thirds of the lower and upper house members at the initiative of no less than one-third of lower house members, and on the condition that there is a conclusion by a special commission, formed by the State Duma. After the State Duma puts forward charges against a former head of state, the Federation Council will have three months to make a decision to terminate the immunity. If this is not done, the charges are considered to be rejected.

The ex-president against whom the accusations have been made has the right to participate in the meetings of both houses of parliament that consider the issue. The whole procedure is identical to the one used for ousting the incumbent head of state, described in article 93 of the Constitution. Earlier, one of the authors of the bill, chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on State Building and Legislation, Pavel Krasheninnikov, said that the introduction of such amendments was necessary in the first place for society’s stability and for preventing attempts at settling scores with former heads of state who had to take unpopular decisions.

The law says that the ex-president cannot be brought to justice on criminal or administrative charges, detained, arrested or searched. Currently the restriction is effective only in relation to actions taken during the president’s term of office or cases connected with the performance of duties of the head of state.

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