Anti-corruption components of the legal status employees of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation

Grigorev Ivan Vladimirovich PhD in Law Associate Professor; Department of Labor Law; Ural State Law University named after V.F. Yakovlev 620137, Russia, Sverdlovsk region, Yekaterinburg, Komsomolskaya str., 21 adarichi@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Corruption is not new to Russia, but it is an urgent problem that needs to be addressed with a view to its subsequent eradication ^[1], as it significantly hinders the development of the state ^[2]. Already in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Pskov court charter established a ban on secret extortion for princes and townspeople. The Messages of the President of the Russian Federation in recent years have emphasized that the fight against corruption has been and remains a fundamental task that requires professionalism, seriousness and responsibility. The existing ways and mechanisms of combating corruption are also reflected in regulatory legal acts that establish the specifics of the legal status employees of internal affairs bodies, in the norms on rights, duties, restrictions and prohibitions established both during the exercise of professional official activity and after its completion. At the same time, modern regulation of certain anti-corruption elements of the legal status employees of internal affairs bodies have an ambiguous and debatable nature, which is why the presence of the section "Improving the system of prohibitions, restrictions and duties established in order to combat corruption in certain areas of activity" in the National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2021-2024, approved by decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated August 16, 2021, seems reasonable and logical.

In legal science, the study of the legal status of an individual is one of the priorities. Within the framework of the general theory of state and law, these issues have been studied in the works of S.S. Alekseev, V.A. Kartashkin, S.A. Komarov, B.C. Nersesyants, V.V. Oxamytny, A.S. Pigolkin, A.S. Prudnikov, I.V. Rostovshchikov and other authors. A significant contribution to the study of the problems of the legal status of law enforcement officers was made by representatives of the branch of law O.G. Arkhipov, E.R. Abyzova, D.N. Bakhrah, A.V. Borisov, V.N. Diskina, L.M. Kolodkin, V.N. Sinyukov, V.S. Shaikhatdinov and a number of other specialists. However, despite the large number of works related to the status of law enforcement officers, the problems of anti-corruption elements of their legal status have not been adequately reflected, which prompted the conduct of this study.

The methodological basis of the research was made up of general scientific, private scientific and special methods of cognition, including systematic and integrated approaches to the problem under study, logical, comparative legal, technical-legal and other methods. The complex application of different methods made it possible to formulate the author's conclusions about certain elements of the legal status of law enforcement officers.

The modern unified foundations of the legal status of civil servants were first defined by Chapter 3 of Federal Law No. 79-FZ of 27.07.2004 "On the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 79–FZ), and subsequently were duplicated in legislative acts on the status of military personnel, employees of certain state (law enforcement) agencies and municipal employees without significant differences (at the same time, articles 17 (prohibitions related to service), 18 (requirements for official conduct) and 19 (conflict of interest resolution) Federal Law No. 79-FZ fully applies to employees of the internal affairs bodies ^[3]). In addition, a significant part of the elements of the legal status It is fixed in Federal Law No. 273-FZ dated December 25, 2008 "On Combating Corruption" (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 273-FZ).

In this paper, by employees of the internal affairs bodies, we will understand citizens who have assumed obligations to complete federal public service in the internal affairs bodies in ordinary or commanding positions, who have been awarded the appropriate special title.

The study of the fundamental rights of law enforcement officers allows us to identify only two that have an anti-corruption focus. In accordance with paragraph 22 of Part 1 of Article 11 of Federal Law No. 342-FZ dated November 30, 2011 "On Service in the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Russian Federation and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 342–FZ), an employee of the internal affairs bodies has the right to establish and participate in the activities of public associations, not pursuing political goals, in their free time from performing official duties, if this does not entail a conflict of interest. The second right granted is to participate, free of charge, in the management of public–state organizations involved in the development of military-applied and service-applied sports, in accordance with the procedure established by a regulatory legal act of the federal executive authority in the field of internal affairs. To implement this right, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation issued Order No. 520 dated July 25, 2017, which approved the Procedure for the participation of employees of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation on a gratuitous basis in the management of public-government organizations engaged in the development of military-applied and service-applied sports. This act establishes the need to obtain a preliminary permit for an employee of the internal affairs bodies to carry out activities in the management of public and state organizations, which can be given by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation or by the heads (heads) of departments of the central office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (except those subordinate to the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia), educational, scientific, medical organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, district logistics departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, as well as other organizations and divisions established to perform tasks and exercise powers assigned to the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation (with the exception of those subordinate to the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia). In addition, the participation of employees of internal affairs bodies in the management of public-state organizations should not lead to a conflict of interest and to a deterioration in the employee's performance of duties in his position in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation.

Thus, the exercise of both granted rights is made dependent on the impossibility of a conflict of interest (a situation in which the personal interest (direct or indirect ^[4]) of an employee of the internal affairs bodies affects or may affect the proper, objective and impartial performance of his official duties (part 1 of Article 10 of Law No. 273-FZ)). The exercise of the rights in question correlates with the obligation of employees not to commit actions related to the influence of personal, property (financial) and other interests, established by paragraph 5 of part 1 of Article 18 of Law No. 79-FZ and the obligation to notify about the possible occurrence of personal interest, provided for in paragraph 13 of part 1 of Article 12 of Law No. 342-FZ. The notification received from an employee of the internal affairs bodies, the procedure for which was approved by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 258 dated 05/03/2017, should be the subject of consideration by the attestation commission (in public authorities that provide for the passage of state civil service, the relevant powers are not granted to attestation commissions, but to commissions for compliance with the requirements for official conduct and conflict of interest resolution). In our opinion, these commissions are the only entities capable of making decisions on the presence or absence of a conflict of interest in the activities of civil servants. Therefore, the exercise of the rights under consideration by an employee of the internal affairs body without a positive decision of the commission should be considered as a violation of anti-corruption legislation, leading to disciplinary liability. Foreign sources have expressed the opinion that it is necessary to adopt separate laws on conflict of interest ^[5], however, we consider this irrelevant for our country, since the current Law No. 342-FZ establishes a fairly detailed regulation of this institution.

The next element of the legal status employees of the internal affairs bodies have duties, of which the provision of information about their income, expenses, property and property obligations, as well as similar information about spouses and minor children, deserves primary attention (paragraph 9 of part 1 of Article 12 of Law No. 342-FZ). The position of the authors, who assess this obligation as a "successfully implemented anti-corruption procedure" ^[6], seems ambiguous, since its implementation has significant legal problems, and "the obligation to declare property generates a large number of disputes" ^[7]. The need to provide this information is assigned only to employees of the internal affairs bodies, the list of which is determined by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 848 dated December 16, 2016 "On the List of Positions of the Federal Civil Service in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and positions in organizations created to perform tasks assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, which are replaced by employees of the internal affairs bodies In the Russian Federation, federal government civil servants and employees, as well as citizens, when appointed to positions in organizations created to perform tasks assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, are required to provide information on their income, property and property-related obligations, as well as information on income, property and property-related obligations of their spouses and minor children" and cannot be interpreted broadly.

Special attention should be paid to the fact that the federal law provides for only one consequence of an employee of the internal affairs bodies failing to provide information about his income, expenses, property and property-related obligations, as well as income, expenses, property and property-related obligations of his spouse and minor children, providing deliberately incomplete information, except for with the exception of cases established by federal laws, or the submission of knowingly false information, dismissal for loss of trust (paragraph 2 of part 1 of Article 82.1 of Law No. 342). Such dismissal is reasonably considered a logical consequence of the official's corruption ^[8]. Since 2023, among the above-mentioned exceptions, Law No. 273-FZ refers to the presence of "extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances beyond the control of the affected person, which under these conditions could not have been expected or avoided or which could not have been overcome, which exclude the possibility of complying with restrictions and prohibitions, requirements for the prevention or resolution of conflicts of interest and the performance of duties, established by the legislation on combating corruption". Such circumstances include, in particular, natural disasters (including an earthquake, flood, hurricane), fire, mass diseases (epidemics), strikes, military actions, terrorist acts, prohibitive or restrictive measures taken by government agencies (including government agencies of foreign countries) and local governments. At the same time, employees of the internal affairs body must fulfill their obligations in the field of combating corruption no later than one month after the termination of circumstances beyond their control (parts 3-4 of Article 13 of Law No. 273-FZ).

By-laws establish a broader list of cases of failure to provide information on the income and property of spouses and minor children. For example, paragraph 16 of the Regulation on Commissions for Compliance with the Requirements for Official Conduct of Federal Civil Servants and Conflict of Interest Resolution, approved by Presidential Decree No. 821 dated 07/01/2010, establishes the possibility of failure to provide information on the income and property of spouses of civil servants and their minor children if there are "objective and valid reasons." Methodical recommendations on the organization of work of the Commission on observance of requirements to office behavior of Federal civil servants and to settlement of conflicting interests (evaluation committees) in the Federal state bodies, approved by the Presidium of the presidential Council of the Russian Federation on anti-corruption (Protocol No. 24 dated April 13, 2011) interpret the "objective reasons" not to submit information about the income and assets of the family members of employees as follows: objective can be considered as a cause, existing independently of the will of the employee (e.g., an employee for a long time does not have information on the whereabouts of the spouse (spouse) and he had no opportunity to receive such information); respectful, cause not reasonably prevent the employee to submit the required information (illness, business trip, etc.). Expands the list of "objective and respectful" of the reasons for the absence of information about the income of the spouses and minor children to the letter of the Ministry of labor of Russia dated 18.07.2013 No. 18-2/10/2-4038 "clarifications on the application of the Federal law of December 3, 2012 No. 230-FZ "On the control of expenditures of individuals holding public office, and other persons to their income" and other normative legal acts in the sphere of corruption counteraction" (along with "Clarifications on the application of the Federal law of December 3, 2012 No. 230-FZ "On the control of expenditures of persons holding public positions, and other persons to their income" and other normative legal acts in the sphere of corruption counteraction" (the legislation as of July 17, 2013)"): a) the spouse (spouse) untraceable, b) the spouse (spouse) is wanted; C) the spouses are legally marriage do not actually live with each other and (or); g) are personal hostility; etc., the examination of the causes leads to the conclusion that the first two reasons can be fully considered objective and respectful, but the last two puzzling, because they can not be documented.

Scientists and practitioners have no consensus on the objectivity and respectfulness of such reasons as the "unwillingness" of a spouse to disclose information about their income and property. Methodological recommendations on the organization of the work of commissions for compliance with the requirements for official conduct of employees and conflict of interest resolution (attestation commissions) in federal government agencies treat the reason in question as "objective but disrespectful." This position is also supported by law enforcement officials, who note that "employees must resolve this issue with their spouses on their own," a similar position is set out in court decisions, which boil down to the fact that "interpersonal relations between spouses do not release an employee from fulfilling his duties" (Appeal ruling of the Kurgan Regional Court in case No. 33-6/2015)..

We consider it necessary to support the authors who claim that the fact of failure to provide information for any (including "objective and valid") reasons does not contribute to combating corruption, since this information remains unrepresented ^[9]. In this regard, the provisions of the reviewed by-laws that provide an opportunity for non-fulfillment of legislative obligations need to be reviewed or invalidated.

Since 2013, employees of the internal affairs bodies have been required to provide information on their expenses, as well as on the expenses of their spouse and minor children for each transaction involving the acquisition of land, other real estate, vehicles, securities, shares (stakes, shares in the authorized (pooled) capital of organizations), digital financial assets, digital currency made by him, his spouse and (or) minor children during the calendar year preceding the year of submission of information, if the total amount of such transactions exceeds the total income of this person and his spouse for the three years preceding the reporting period, and the sources of receipt the funds used to make these transactions ^[10]. It is also difficult to recognize this obligation as an effective anti-corruption measure, since employees of the internal affairs bodies can provide any documents, including transactions that have not actually been concluded (for example, copies of the contract and receipts for any amount can be submitted to confirm the loan agreement, while their originals can be destroyed). The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarifies to the lower courts the possibility of the parties to present any evidence of the legality of the acquisition of property, in particular, the receipt of funds under civil law gift or loan agreements (Review of judicial practice in cases involving applications by prosecutors to transfer property to the income of the Russian Federation for which evidence of its acquisition has not been provided in accordance with anti-corruption legislation for legitimate income, approved by The Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on June 30, 2017). One should agree with the opinion of scientists who believe that "an employee with corrupt incomes will find a way to legalize them through close persons who are not required to provide information about income and property (parents, adult children, brothers and sisters, etc.)" ^[11].

The judicial practice in cases involving statements by prosecutors (persons whose activities are aimed at organizing and ensuring a systematic approach to combating corruption ^[12]) about the transfer of property to the income of the Russian Federation, in respect of which no evidence of its acquisition for legitimate income has been provided. Firstly, the position of the courts that the current legislation does not provide for the possibility of taking into account the cost of living, utility bills, alimony payments and others not related to the cost of acquiring property, contradicts common sense, because it assumes that the employee and his family members do not eat, do not buy clothes. personal hygiene products do not incur mandatory expenses for the maintenance of property and so on, which in fact leads to a significant overestimation of income for the purchase of property (since 2022, a similar approach has been applied to regulating control over the legality of receiving funds (Article 8.2 of Law No. 273-FZ)). We share the opinion of scientists who propose to adjust the practice of law enforcement ^[13] and take into account at least the cost of living in the cost structure ^[14]. Secondly, the possibility for the courts to determine a "minor discrepancy" between income, the legality of which has been confirmed, and the amount of property acquisition costs, allowing only that part of it to be recovered, which was acquired with income, the legality of which has not been proven, leads to a significant reduction in compensation from a corruption offense. Moreover, the evaluation category of "minor discrepancy" needs to establish a clear legislative framework even for judicial discretion, since only "the correct establishment of the limits of discretion ensures its legality" ^[15], but the option of "zero tolerance" ^[16], that is, the complete absence of discrepancies in the verified information, should be considered more correct.

The next duty of employees of the internal affairs bodies, which has an anti-corruption orientation, is the need to notify any person about each case of contacting an employee in order to incite them to commit a corruption offense. Law enforcement officers Individuals (especially those who fill positions that allow them to compile administrative materials or initiate criminal cases) are most susceptible to being approached by individuals in order to incite them to commit a corruption offense ^[17]. The procedure for notification in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia of the facts of appeals for the purpose of inducing corruption offenses, approved by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 293 dated 04/19/2010, proceeds from the fact that an employee is obliged to notify the representative of the employer (employer), including about known facts of appeals to other employees, civil servants, employees of organizations created to perform tasks, assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, in order to incite abuse of office, giving or receiving bribes, abuse of authority, or other illegal use of one's official position contrary to the legitimate interests of society and the state in order to obtain benefits in the form of money, valuables, other property or services of a proprietary nature, other property rights for oneself or for third parties, or illegal provision of such benefits to the specified person by other individuals, as well as inducement to commit the specified acts on behalf of or in the interests of a legal entity. It seems that the appropriate expansionary approach has the right to exist only if the text of the federal law fixing the duties of employees of internal affairs bodies is changed.

Notification of the representative of the employer (employer) of the facts of receipt of an application for inducement to commit corruption offenses is carried out by submitting a separate document, executed in any form or in accordance with an approximate sample. The notification must contain information about the person(s) who applied, the source of receipt of the appeal for the purpose of inducing a corruption offense, and other data (time, date, and place of inducement to commit a corruption offense; the nature of the offense that should have been committed; the method of inducing an offense, and others). The notification may be collective, in which case it is signed by all the persons who drafted it. Verification of the information contained in the notification is carried out within 30 days from the date of registration of the notification with the internal affairs body. Based on the results of the inspection, the representative of the employer (employer) makes one of two decisions: either the notification and the inspection materials are transferred for consideration to the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, or the inspection is completed (if the information specified in the notification has not found its objective confirmation).

The introduction of a ban for certain categories of employees of internal affairs bodies and their family members on opening accounts (deposits), storing cash and valuables in foreign banks located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, possession and (or) use of foreign financial instruments deserves a positive assessment. By Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation No. 658 dated 06/03/2015, the List of federal civil service positions in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation was approved, the exercise of which powers provides for participation in the preparation of decisions affecting issues of sovereignty and national security of the Russian Federation, the replacement of which entails a ban on opening and having accounts (deposits), storing cash and valuables in foreign banks located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, own and (or) use foreign financial instruments. The list includes: 1) positions of the highest commanding staff in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation (with the exception of the positions of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and his deputies); 2) positions of heads (chiefs), deputy heads (chiefs) of the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia at the district and regional levels, East Siberian, Zabaikalsky linear departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for transport of the positions of senior management and 3) positions of all names, the performance of duties for which provides access to information of particular importance. The existence of appropriate restrictions does not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which establishes the possibility of restricting human and civil rights and freedoms to the extent necessary to protect the foundations of the constitutional order, morality, health, rights and legitimate interests of others, and to ensure national defense and state security (Part 3 of Article 55). At the same time, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has repeatedly noted that civil servants (including employees of internal affairs bodies) "carry out official activities in the public interest and are associated with the implementation of special, public-legal functions by employees, which determines their special status, which includes both rights and obligations imposed on them. restrictions and prohibitions related to service, the presence of which is compensated, among other things, by guarantees and advantages provided to them" (for example, Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 30.06.2011 No. 14-P, Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 14.01.2014 No. 94-O, Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated 09.03.2017 No. 357-O, etc.).

The ambiguity of anti-corruption legislation can be traced in the regulation of donations to employees of internal affairs bodies. Article 17 of Federal Law No. 79-FZ of July 27, 2004 "On the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation" prohibits employees from receiving remuneration from individuals and legal entities (gifts, monetary remuneration, loans, services, entertainment, recreation, transportation expenses and other remuneration) in connection with the performance of their official duties. Gifts received by an employee in connection with protocol events, business trips, and other official events are recognized as federal property, respectively, and are transferred to the employee by act to the state body in which he holds office, with the exception of cases established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (these provisions apply to employees of internal affairs bodies in accordance with part 2 of Article 14 of Law No. 342-FZ). According to Article 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is prohibited to give, with the exception of ordinary gifts (the cost of which exceeds three thousand rubles) to civil servants... in connection with their official position or in connection with the performance of their official duties. This prohibition does not apply to donations in connection with protocol events, business trips and other official events. We believe that subparagraph 3 of paragraph 1 of Article 575 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which allows for the possibility of receiving "ordinary" gifts by employees of internal affairs bodies, should be declared invalid (despite the fact that this approach has been quite successfully implemented in a number of foreign countries ^[18]). With regard to service in the internal affairs bodies, the legislator establishes the existence of several types of gifts: the first are gifts from individuals or legal entities, which are prohibited from receiving; the second are valuable gifts given to employees as a measure of encouragement for the conscientious performance of official duties, achieving high results in official activities, as well as for the successful completion of tasks of increased complexity (Article 48 of Law 342-FZ); others – gifts in connection with protocol and official events, which can be received, but leaving them in the employee's possession is decided according to a special procedure determined by the Procedure for notification in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia about receiving a gift in connection with protocol events, business trips and other official events, participation in which It is connected with the performance of official (official) duties, its delivery, evaluation and sale (purchase), approved by the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 334 dated 06/01/2017. This procedure was developed on the basis of the Procedure for Evaluating, Handing over and Redeeming Gifts Received by federal Employees at Protocol and Official Events, approved by Government Decree No. 10 dated January 9, 2014 "On the Procedure for Notifying Certain Categories of Persons about receiving a gift in connection with protocol events, business trips and other official events, participation in which is related to the performance of their official (official) duties, the delivery and evaluation of the gift, the sale (redemption) and the transfer of funds from its sale." The procedures provided for in both of these procedures are difficult to implement, since they involve a large number of actions from representatives of internal affairs bodies and authorized organizations who need to: form a commission for the receipt and disposal of assets; determine the value of the gift based on the market price effective on the date of acceptance (for which an expert examination is necessary); provide an opportunity for an employee to redeem a gift; decide whether it is appropriate to use the gift to ensure the activities of the relevant department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia; if necessary, take measures to sell the gift, transfer it gratuitously to the balance of a charitable organization, or destroy it. We believe that the current procedure needs to be simplified by assigning employees the obligation to deliver all gifts, regardless of their value, to the bodies in which they serve; if it is not appropriate for the body to use gifts, they should be transferred to museums to determine the historical, cultural, artistic, scientific or other value, taking into account which gifts museum funds will be formed or destroyed.

It is impossible to ignore the peculiarities of the status of certain categories of citizens participating in a special military operation. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 968 dated December 29, 2002, during the period of a special military operation and until the issuance of relevant regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, establishes the following features of the performance of duties, compliance with restrictions and prohibitions in the field of combating corruption by law enforcement officers: 1) employees of the internal affairs bodies who receive (accepted) participation in special military operation or directly executing (carrying out) the challenges associated with its implementation on the territory of the Donetsk people's Republic, Luhansk people's Republic, Zaporozhye, Kherson region of Ukraine, aimed (seconded) to perform tasks on the territory of Donetsk people's Republic, Luhansk people's Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, are exempt from the obligation to present information about your income, expenses, about property and obligations of property character, as well as information on income, expenses, about property and obligations of property character of their spouse (spouse) and minor children; 2) employees of internal Affairs bodies exempt from the obligation to submit information about the income, expenses, about property and obligations of property nature, applying to other positions of the Federal public service (requiring the submission of such information), does not present this information in the following cases: employees take (took) participate or intend to participate in the special military operation or directly perform (performed) problems related to its implementation on the territory of the Donetsk people's Republic, Luhansk people's Republic, Zaporozhye, Kherson region of Ukraine; 3) employees of bodies of internal Affairs of the Russian Federation participating in special military operation or directly performing tasks related to its holding, in the territories of the Donetsk people's Republic, Luhansk people's Republic, Zaporozhye, Kherson region of Ukraine, persons sent (sent) to perform tasks on the territory of Donetsk people's Republic, Luhansk people's Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions and perform these tasks do not send provided for by regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation in the field of combating corruption notices, applications, appeals and other materials on issues related to the performance of duties the observance of limitations and restrictions in this area; 4) a prohibition on the receipt by the staff of bodies of internal Affairs in connection with the performance of official (official) duties of individuals and legal entities rewards (loans, money and any other rewards, services, payment, entertainment, recreation, transportation costs) and gifts, not provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation shall not apply to remuneration and gifts humanitarian (charity) information obtained in connection with participation in specific military operations or tasks, associated with its implementation on the territory of the Donetsk people's Republic, Luhansk people's Republic, Zaporizhia region, Kherson region of Ukraine, and also in connection with the exercise of tasks on the territory of Donetsk people's Republic, Luhansk people's Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson region.

The considered decree of the President of the Russian Federation contains fair norms justified by objective difficulties in the ability of employees of internal affairs bodies to comply with anti-corruption duties, however, such norms should be fixed at the level of federal law (since, according to part 3 of Article 90 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, decrees of the President of the Russian Federation should not contradict federal laws).

Summarizing the above, it is necessary to emphasize that each of the elements of the legal status of employees of internal affairs bodies has an anti-corruption character: individual rights, duties, prohibitions and rules of official conduct are directly aimed at preventing corruption. At the same time, the regulation of certain anti-corruption elements of the legal status of law enforcement officers, as well as law enforcement practice, is not without drawbacks. In our opinion, it is necessary to develop a uniform position on the possibility of non-disclosure of information on income, expenses, property and property obligations of a spouse and minor children, since the existence of a legislative prohibition on non-disclosure of such information is offset by a subordinate authorization. When checking the compliance of the incomes of law enforcement officers with their expenses, it is necessary to take into account in the latter the cost of living allocated for current consumption, and not for the purchase of valuable property. In addition, it is necessary to define the possibilities of judicial discretion when considering cases of corruption offenses.

At the same time, it is worth noting that the problems of corruption have not been solved in any country ^[19]. Unfortunately, the ongoing tightening of responsibility does not lead to its disappearance, as evidenced, among other things, by the practice of countries that have established the death penalty ^[20] for corruption offenses. It remains to be hoped that the improvement of Russian anti-corruption legislation will be implemented taking into account scientific developments ^[21] and in the foreseeable future it will be possible to eliminate existing inaccuracies and conflicts of legal status employees of the internal affairs bodies.