The role of citizens' social security in maintaining the national security of the Russian Federation

Semiannikova Dina Aleksandrovna ORCID: 0000-0001-5113-5958 PhD in Law Associate Professor of the Department of Law of the North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 197022, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, 66 dinka92-spb@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 400 dated 07/02/2021 "On the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation" noted the importance of further development of Russia as a legal social state in which respect and protection of human and civil rights and freedoms, improvement of the welfare of the people, protection of the dignity of citizens of the Russian Federation are of the highest importance. Taking into account the geopolitical situation in the world, the socio-economic situation in Russia is undergoing major changes, which is certainly accompanied by changes in the legal sphere, in particular in the field of social security law, the level of which is one of the main indicators of the welfare state.

The legitimacy and effectiveness of the state can be judged by how it ensures the well-being of citizens in order to mitigate social discontent, which can eventually lead to conflicts ^[1]. It is worth agreeing with the opinion that there is a relationship between social security and the economic development of the country and a positive contribution to the stability and well-being of the country^[2]. The purpose of social security is to protect a person from the consequences of various kinds of life situations associated with a threat to his social well-being ^[3].

M.L. Zakharov, E.G. Tuchkova, E.E. Machulskaya, M.Yu Fedorova and other scientists were engaged in substantiating the paramount importance of citizens' rights in the field of social security on an equal basis with other rights. One of the components of national security A.V. Belikov, M.P. Komarov rightly call social security as a state of protection of citizens from threats of violation of their vital interests, rights, freedoms ^[4]. At the same time, these studies only partially address the issue of the impact of social security on security within the country. The role of modern legal regulation of social security of new subjects in maintaining national security is considered for the first time in this study, which increases its relevance.

The definition of the essential features of the nature of the welfare state remains a debatable issue. Thus, supporters of the liberal concept advocate, in particular, a narrowing of the circle of persons subject to social protection. At the same time, opponents rightly point out that the welfare state is not static and its concept needs constant revision and adaptation. ^[5]. This study supports this point of view, and the emergence of new subjects of social security confirms the "plasticity" of social security in the face of modern challenges. 

 The choice of subjects targeted by social security today depends not only on subjective factors (low income, disability, old age, large families, orphanhood), but also on the geopolitical, economic situation and other factors. Thus, the range of social security subjects expanded during the spread of coronavirus infection, which included employees of medical institutions who are entitled to social support in case of virus disease due to the nature of their work, as well as their family members in the event of the death of such a subject. During the special military operation (hereinafter referred to as the SVO), a new category of subjects appeared for social security – persons serving in volunteer formations that perform the tasks of the SVO. In modern conditions, the relations arising in connection with the implementation of the constitutional right of citizens to social security are developing dynamically, which is reflected in the emergence of new forms of overcoming socially risky situations^[6].

The State is always the entity providing social security to citizens. According to paragraph g of Article 72 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, social security in Russia is jointly administered by the Russian Federation and its subjects. Zapolsky S.V., Smorchkova L.N. note that joint management guarantees, creates equal conditions and prerequisites for the development of all subjects of the Russian Federation and at the same time ensures compliance with federal human rights standards throughout the state^[7].

Historically, it was the state represented by the Federation that played a major role in social security, and the role of the regions was additional. In fact, the state, through federal legal regulation, "designates" a subject in need of social security, the specifics of its legal status in the field of social security, taking into account the characteristics and needs of such a subject, develops subordinate legal regulation establishing the procedure for providing various types of social security, introduces legal mechanisms (procedural issues), and the regions, based on federal The norms, taking into account the material capabilities of the region, supplement the amount of social security for specific categories of citizens (basically, they provide additional payments for the same reasons, as a rule, requiring residence on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation). According to Lopatina Ya.V., the social policy of the region, acting as an integral part of the measures carried out by the state in order to regulate the conditions of social production in general, is closely related to the general economic situation in the country^[8].

Thus, the state did not concentrate family policy issues at the federal level, centralizing the entire social sphere here, but transferred it to the joint jurisdiction of the federal center and the regions ^[9]. The most common example of social support for a family is the provision of maternal (family) capital. In 2007, a corresponding payment was made, regulated by Federal Law No. 256-FZ dated December 29, 2006 "On additional measures of state support for families with children". Then, the subjects of the Russian Federation, based on the demographic situation in the region, budget possibilities, and other grounds, develop legal regulation and provide such a payment in the region. For example, in 2011, the relevant legal regulation appeared in St. Petersburg (Law of St. Petersburg dated 06.12.2011 No. 810-151 "On Maternal (Family) Capital in St. Petersburg"), in the Moscow Region (Law of the Moscow Region dated January 12, 2006 No. 1/2006-OZ "On measures of social support for families and children in the Moscow Region), in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra (Law of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra dated October 28, 2011 No. 100-oz "On additional measures to support families with children in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra") and in other subjects of the Russian Federation. This example reflects the specifics of regional legislation, manifested in the subsequent "connection" of regions to federal legislation.

One example of a region focusing on "internal" needs when establishing the right to regional social security is social security for persons with disabilities. Social security of the disabled of the Russian Federation is regulated by Federal Law No. 181-FZ dated 11/24/1995 "On Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities in the Russian Federation", which establishes the rights to various types of social security, including the right to receive technical means of rehabilitation (hereinafter referred to as TSR). It should be noted that the regional legal regulation differs in the expansion of the federal list of TSR, approved by Order No. 86n of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation dated February 13, 2018, by adding new TSR items. Thus, in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug dated 11/18/2021 No. 1013-P "On approval of the Procedure for providing disabled people with technical means of rehabilitation that are not included in the federal list of rehabilitation measures, technical means of rehabilitation and services provided to a disabled person", the regional list contains TSR for disabled people with significantly pronounced impaired bodily functions, namely, people with disabilities with significantly pronounced disorders of the musculoskeletal system, unable to move. In the Magadan region, according to the Decree of the Government of the Magadan Region dated May 15, 2014 No. 400-pp "On approval of the Procedure for targeted provision of disabled people, children with hearing, visual impairment, with damage to the musculoskeletal system with personal hygiene products, technical means of rehabilitation not included in the federal list of rehabilitation measures, technical means of rehabilitation and services" and the Kursk region in accordance with the Resolution of the Administration of the Kursk region dated June 10, 2011 No. 237-pa "On providing technical means of rehabilitation not included in the federal list of rehabilitation measures, technical means of rehabilitation and services provided to disabled people within the framework of regional target programs" special attention of the legislator is paid to people with hearing and visual impairments and damage to the musculoskeletal system.

Conditionally, the state guarantees fundamental rights through their primary regulation with the possibility of subsequent "connection" of the regions.  At the expense of their budgetary funds and other resources, the subjects of the Russian Federation establish additional social protection measures based on the guidelines defined by the federal legislator.

Separately, I would like to note the importance of the attention of some regions to people who have not been diagnosed with disabilities and who need TSR, based on the increase in the incidence of specific diseases in the region. Thus, in accordance with the Decree of the Government of St. Petersburg dated July 21, 2015 No. 650 "On measures to implement Chapter 29 "Social support for persons with disabilities" of the Law of St. Petersburg "Social Code of St. Petersburg" in St. Petersburg, citizens are provided with TSR in the form of prostheses after mastectomy, specialized underwear after mastectomy and complex orthopedic shoes with individual manufacturing parameters. On the basis of the Decree of the Government of Moscow dated 08/15/2016 No. 503-PP "On providing certain categories of citizens with technical means of rehabilitation for medical purposes, medical products at the expense of the budget of the city of Moscow", hearing aids are provided in Moscow to persons with hearing disabilities (with unspecified disabilities), non-invasive ventilation devices are provided to both disabled people and persons with limited life activity.

Thus, the issues of establishing social security for certain categories of citizens are being decentralized to a regional jurisdiction based on regional needs and characteristics.

It is worth agreeing that the current situation of Russia, due to the nature of its socio-political and economic development, poses new tasks for the state and society to improve existing and develop new legislation in the interests of strengthening the national security of the country^[10], while these actions must be deliberate and justified.

 Within the framework of the study, special attention should be paid to the active regionalization of social security, the development of which has both positive and negative features. First of all, it is worth noting the positive aspects of increasing the participation of regions in social security issues for certain categories of citizens. The concept of "regionalization" is also associated with the concept of "regional development", defined as the process of formation of territorial differences within countries and regions, characteristic of all spheres of human activity^[11].

Thus, during the spread of coronavirus infection, when introducing various types of social security, the state designated categories of recipients of state social security, the choice of which was determined by the level of risks to which certain groups of the population were exposed (the minimum and maximum amount of unemployment benefits was established in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 12/31/2020 No. 2393 "On the minimum and maximum amounts unemployment benefits for 2021", one-time and monthly payments to families with children in accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated April 7, 2020 No. 249 "On additional measures of social support for families with children"), and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 1, 2020 No. 402 "On approval of Temporary Rules for registration of disability certificates, appointments and the payment of temporary disability benefits in case of quarantine to insured persons aged 65 years and older" settled the issues of state social insurance for certain categories of citizens. In addition, the occurrence of epidemics and pandemics is one of the threats to national security in the field of public health protection ^[12], which is more "leveled" by the establishment of appropriate social security for citizens.

During this period, the regional legislator highlighted the main conditions for providing additional payments to families with children, the most common of which were: low-income families in which a child is being raised, raising a child by a single parent, a large family, raising a disabled child in a family, loss of work by a parent during the establishment of restrictive measures. Social problems were solved point-by-point^[13].

The negative sides of regionalization manifested themselves during the period of the special military operation (hereinafter referred to as the SVO), which revealed the need to increase the volume of social security for military personnel in the Russian Federation. Due to the special nature of the duties assigned to military personnel, the state provides them with a wide range of social guarantees and compensations^[14]. One of the main acts of the federal legislator that defined the strategy in social security of citizens during the period of its independence was the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated March 16, 2022 No. 121 "On measures to ensure socio-economic stability and protection of the population in the Russian Federation", which indicated the need for the subjects of the Russian Federation to take comprehensive measures to ensure socio-economic stability, including targeted support measures for various categories of citizens of the Russian Federation who find themselves in a difficult life situation.

In fact, the regional legislator is responsible for choosing the mechanisms and conditions for providing social security, where the region determines the categories of citizens who find themselves in a difficult life situation, as well as measures (exhaustive, that is, by definition complete, comprehensive) to ensure socio-economic stability not just within the region, but based on the scale of the task, all over the country. The most common type of social security in the regions has become a one-time payment to the participants of the social security system.

Subsequently, this circumstance, in view of the active implementation by the regions of legislative support for lump-sum payments to the participants of the SVO, led to the establishment of a lump-sum payment at the federal level. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 787 dated 11/22/2022 "On a one-time cash payment to military personnel undergoing military service under a contract in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" established a payment of 195 thousand rubles for mobilized citizens, as well as citizens who voluntarily signed a contract for one year or more. There has been a revolution in the system – the region has defined the subjects, mechanisms and types of social security. It was the regional legislator who was the first to identify various categories of military personnel participating in the SVO (citizens called up for military service on mobilization, SVO participants who signed a contract to serve in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, citizens who joined the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from volunteer formations as part of participation in the SVO), as well as family members of military personnel participating in the SVO, independently He fixed the specifics of their legal status, which establishes the right of these persons to a certain set of social security rights^[15].

The international socio-political situation is rapidly changing, new risks, threats, and priorities for ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation are emerging ^[16]. The most important task of the state's social policy is to create social protection and social security systems capable of compensating for the consequences of social risks for citizens^[17]. In conclusion, it is definitely worth saying that there should be no extremes in the form of passive adaptation of regions or, on the contrary, their exceptional initiative in social security. The initiative and participation of the subjects of the Russian Federation are key today, while one should not forget about subjective factors (the speed of managerial decision-making in the region, the quality of the work of the system of authorities of the subject of the Russian Federation, the material security of the region, the presence of necessary structures/organizations in it), taking into account which it is necessary to build a system of productive interaction, where the state takes over the main role. The legitimacy and effectiveness of the state can be observed in its approach to ensuring the well-being of citizens, mitigating social discontent and avoiding conflicts^[18]. Scientists confirm the need for the state to invest in the development of human capital to strengthen national security ^[19].  It is this approach to the legal regulation of social security of citizens that can ensure social security and maintain stability and security within the country.