Restrictions, Obligations and Prohibitions related to the Prevention of Corruption Offenses in the Internal Affairs Bodies

Diskina Viktoriya Nikolaevna Postgraduate student, Depatment of jurisprudence, Yugra State University 628007, Russia, 628007 KhMAO-Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk, Stroiteley str., 102 sq. m. 62 diskinavn@mail.ru

The problem of combating corruption exists in all public authorities, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

The fight against corruption in Russia has been relevant at all times. Russian princes and tsars, since the times of Ancient Russia, have made certain efforts to legislate corruption prohibitions.

So during the reign of Prince Ivan III of Moscow, in 1497, a code of laws was issued – a Judicial code. Paragraph 67 is devoted to bribery, and was called "On promises and on obedience."  

In the Court Book of Ivan IV the Terrible of 1550, penalties for bribes have already appeared.

Later, Peter I carried out legislative reforms, including those aimed at combating corruption, by encouraging denunciations, however, despite this, his inner circle abused their position, for which they paid. 

The modern regulatory framework for anti-corruption activities is the basic Federal Law No. 273-FZ dated 25.12.2008 "On Combating Corruption", which establishes the basic principles of combating corruption, legal and organizational bases for preventing this phenomenon, combating it, as well as minimizing and eliminating the consequences of corruption offenses^[1].

In connection with the adoption of the Federal Law "On Combating Corruption"^[2] and the ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption of October 31, 2003 and the Convention on Criminal Liability for Corruption of January 27, 1999 on the basis of Federal Law No. 280-FZ of December 25, 2008 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" The Law of the RSFSR of 18.04.1991 No. 1026-1 "On Militia"^[3] was amended accordingly.

The period of the formation of anti-corruption in the internal affairs bodies coincided with the period of the reform of the "Police", and a number of high-profile crimes and sensational corruption scandals served as the basis for this, such as the "Evsyukov case", "The Case of werewolves in uniform and V. Ganeev", etc.

On December 24, 2009, the President of the Russian Federation signed Decree No. 1468 "On measures to improve the activities of the internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation"^[4], according to which it was envisaged to reduce the number of employees of the internal affairs bodies, prohibited regional financing, and also made changes to the functions and duties of police officers.

01.03.2011 Federal Law No. 3-FZ "On the Police"^[5] (hereinafter referred to as the Police Law) entered into force on 07.02.2011, according to which anti–corruption duties were assigned to police officers and responsibility for their violations was provided.

The anti-corruption provisions are set out in more detail in Federal Law No. 342-FZ of 30.11.2011 "On Service in the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Russian Federation and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation"^[6], which introduced certain anti-corruption requirements for police officers, including the obligation of employees to notify them of all appeals to them in for the purpose of inducing to commit corruption offenses (paragraph 14 of part 1 of Article 12 of the Law on the Service).  

Thus, after the reform of the "Police", the fight against corruption in the internal affairs bodies as a whole began to develop and change.

Firstly, anti-corruption provisions regarding employees of internal affairs bodies have been legislated. 

Secondly, strict liability for violation of anti-corruption regulations has been established.

Thirdly, preventive work is organized with employees in order to bring to them the requirements of anti-corruption legislation and prevent corruption offenses.

And fourthly, the worldview of police officers is gradually changing to the requirements established in order to counter corruption.

Also, other authors adhere to a similar provision, for example, Candidate of Law of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia named after V.Ya. Kikot, Olshevskaya A.V., in their article: "The main requirements, restrictions, prohibitions and obligations established in order to combat corruption in the executive authorities of the Russian Federation, and the main problematic issues in the implementation of anti-corruption legislation in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation"^[7].

The specifics of one of the anti-corruption provisions imposed on employees will be considered in more detail.

The duty of employees to notify about all appeals to them in order to induce them to commit corruption offenses. Police officers are most likely to be approached by persons in order to incite them to commit corruption offenses.

This is especially true for those employees who are in positions whose responsibilities include the preparation of administrative materials, as well as those who have the authority to initiate criminal cases, including employees of other departments.

The Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated December 16, 2016 No. 848 (hereinafter referred to as Order 848) approved a list of positions that are corrupt, and whose employees are required to provide information about income, property and property obligations for themselves and their family members (hereinafter referred to as Information)^[8].

The third section of the above list refers to employees of organizations created to perform tasks assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, i.e. not all employees working under the Labor Code in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia will be covered by this list of positions.

Thus, the anti-corruption legislation does not apply to the "freelance" positions of employees of internal affairs bodies, which are available in units subject to corruption risks.

The labor activity of employees is regulated by labor legislation, which also has anti-corruption prohibitions, at the same time, this norm does not apply to all positions of employees.

In this connection, we believe to consider the need to amend Order No. 848, regarding the list of units that are susceptible to corruption risks, and all employees and employees serving or working in such units are required to provide Information.

This option of amending the legislation is proposed due to the fact that in practice there are cases when an employee whose position is not in the list of positions approved by Order No. 848 is being persuaded to commit a corruption offense, and, consequently, anti-corruption legislation does not apply to him and it is quite difficult to bring the guilty person to justice.  

At the same time, the job responsibilities of employees and employees of the same department are not much different, but the responsibility is already different.

But if all employees, employees and employees serving in divisions exposed to corruption risks and listed in the list approved by the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia provide Information, the responsibility of officials will already be much higher.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia has established a procedure for notifying about the facts of appeals for the purpose of inducing corruption offenses, which was approved by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia No. 293 of 04/19/2010^[9] (hereinafter – Order 293). Also, this order provides an approximate sample of the notification and a list of information contained in the notification.

If an employee receives an appeal for the purpose of inducing him to commit corruption offenses, the employee is obliged to notify on the day of receipt of this appeal, including in the case of being on vacation, on a business trip, on sick leave - does not exclude the possibility of notifying the head during a personal reception or through the office department, or to send by mail, through the channels fax, or through the official websites of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, or notify the Prosecutor's office.  

At the same time, criminal cases are initiated against citizens who incline employees to corruption offenses. Thus, during 2021, 1,755 criminal cases were initiated against citizens who turned to employees in order to persuade them to commit corruption offenses. In 2020, 1,664 criminal cases were initiated.

Officials who have submitted notices of inducement to corruption offenses have "Immunity" for a year if they are brought to disciplinary responsibility.

But this does not mean that they will not be attracted at all. Such officials are subject to a special procedure for bringing to justice.

Officials are considered by a Commission with the participation of the prosecutor. 5 days before the meeting of the commission, the Chairman of the Commission provides the necessary materials for study to the prosecutor, who, based on the results of the study, decides whether or not to bring an employee to disciplinary responsibility (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 309 of 02.04.2013)^[10]. If the prosecutor decides not to prosecute a person, the employee is released from disciplinary liability.

Thus, this requirement can be attributed to measures to encourage employees, if they provide notifications to the representative of the employer (employer) about the facts of treatment in order to incite corruption offenses.

^[1] Federal Law No. 273-FZ of 25.12.2008 "On combating Corruption" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published "Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation", 29.12.2008, No. 52 (Part 1), Article 6228.^[2] Federal Law No. 280-FZ of December 25, 2008 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in Connection with the Ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption of October 31, 2003 and the Convention on Criminal Liability for Corruption of January 27, 1999 and the adoption of the Federal Law "On Combating Corruption" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published "Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation", 29.12.2008, No. 52 (part 1), Article 6235.

^[3] The Law of the RSFSR of 18.04.1991 No. 1026-1 "On militia" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published "Vedomosti SND and VS RSFSR", 18.04.1991, No. 16, Article 503.^[4] Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 1468 of 12/24/2009 "On measures to improve the activities of the Internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, No. 251, 12/28/2009.

^[5] Federal Law No. 3-FZ of 07.02.2011 "On the Police" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, No. 25, 08.02.2011.

^[6] Federal Law No. 342-FZ of 30.11.2011 "On Service in the Internal Affairs Bodies of the Russian Federation and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published on 01.12.2011 on the official Internet portal of legal information http://www.pravo.gov.ru .

^[7] Legal Sciences A.V. Olshevskaya 2020 Scientific specialty 12.00.14 – administrative law; administrative process "Basic requirements, restrictions, prohibitions and obligations established in order to combat corruption in the executive authorities of the Russian Federation, and the main problematic issues in the implementation of anti-corruption legislation in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation"//

Bulletin of the Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.-2020.-No. 1.-pp.173-181.^[8] Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation dated 12/16/2016 No. 848 "On the List of Positions of the Federal Public 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, in the replacement of which employees of the Internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation, federal State 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 about their income, property and property obligations, as well as information about income, property and property obligations of their spouse and minor children" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published on 20.01.2017 on the official Internet portal of legal information http://www.pravo.gov.ru . 

^[9] Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated 04/19/2010 No. 293 "On approval of the Notification Procedure in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia on the facts of appeals for the purpose of inducing corruption offenses" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, No. 152, 07/13/2010.

^[10] Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 02.04.2013 No. 309 "On measures to implement certain provisions of the Federal Law "On Combating Corruption" // SPS ConsultantPlus // Published 02.04.2013 on the official Internet portal of legal information http://www.pravo.gov.ru .