Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: A New Stage of Hasty Changes

The paper continues the topic started in issue No. 4 (2024) of the «Aktual’nye problemy rossijskogo prava» journal and deals with unexpected appearance and hasty adoption of laws on amendments and additions to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, «which are not discussed in the legal community and do not receive a proper expert assessment» (see: Skoblikov P.A. Criminal Liability for Assisting in the Execution of Decisions of International Organizations in which the Russian Federation does not Participate. Aktual’nye problemy rossijskogo prava. 2024;19(4):129-141).

The timeline of the appearance of Article 284.3 in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation shown in the aforementioned publication confirms that the topic we are talking about has become even more relevant in connection with the start of a special military operation by Russia. This fact, given its scale and significance, cannot but necessitate adjustments to national legislation, including criminal legislation. However, this does not mean that there are reasons for moving towards «hasty legislation», for adopting laws in an unimaginably short time that have little in common with the drafts submitted to the State Duma for consideration or already adopted in the first reading.

The paper substantiates the possibilities of improving the procedure for introducing and considering bills on amendments and additions to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. One of such possibilities is to establish in the State Duma Regulations a rule that such draft laws are introduced simultaneously with the official review of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation and reviews of law universities that have experience of cooperation with the State Duma in terms of conducting scientific legal examination of draft laws (in particular, Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)). At the same time, reviews should also be given to draft legislation adopted in the second reading, and they should be carried out by specialized departments as the most competent scientific divisions of universities.

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