Russia to study Navalnyy NGO’s anti-graft proposal after 100,000 sign petition

(Interfax – Moscow, December 9, 2014) One hundred thousand Russians have supported the idea of criminal liability to be introduced for the illegal enrichment of officials obliged to submit the details of their incomes and expenditures, which will lead to a federal expert group examining whether the law needs to be amended.

A proposal to that effect, published on the Russian Public Initiative website (www.roi.ru) on 9 January this year, received the 100,000th signature on Tuesday [9 December], the necessary number for it to be examined by the authorities.

The authors of the initiative – activists from the Foundation for the Fight Against Corruption – proposed that Article 20 of the UN Convention Against Corruption operate in Russian jurisdiction and the crime of “illegal enrichment” be introduced into the Russian Federation Criminal Code in respect of individuals obliged to submit the details of their incomes and expenditures.

[Passage omitted: online petition details]

The Foundation for the Fight Against Corruption is a non-commercial organization established by opposition figure Aleksey Navalnyy to fight corruption in Russia.

[Passage omitted: Russia signed and ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, but Article 20 of the convention is not fully implemented in Russian law]

Under Presidential Decree 183, dated 4 March 2013, a public initiative receiving the required number of votes shall be sent to an expert working group of the appropriate level (in this case, federal level), which shall examine it and decide whether an enforceable legal act is to be drafted.

The expert group includes representatives of federal executive bodies, State Duma deputies, Federation Council members, Public Chamber members and representatives of the business community and public associations.

More than 4,400 public initiatives are currently posted on the Russian Public Initiative website.