Justice Ministry says authorities can organize public rallies without restrictions

The Justice Ministry has announced that the authorities can organize public rallies without giving prior notice or other restrictions, as in federal law there is no mention of government agencies needing to apply to hold large-scale public gatherings. 

The Justice Ministry has announced that the authorities can organize public rallies without giving prior notice or other restrictions, as in federal law there is no mention of government agencies needing to apply to hold large-scale public gatherings. 

The clauses in federal law concerned with public rallies and marches do not apply to public events organized by governmental or municipal bodies – this was the reply of Yulia Manakhova, the deputy director of the department of constitutional law, to a question from Aleksei Chumakov, a lawyer from the Centre for Anti-Corruption Politics (TsAP), and the Yabloko party. 

Previously, on the 20th April the public prosecutor for Vladimir, in response to an appeal by local activist Anton Komin who had asked that the legality of the court's approval of government rallies be examined, said that the law regarding the conduct of rallies did not apply to the authorities. After this Chumakov asked the Justice Ministry to clarify whether the federal government agreed with this position. 

The deputy director of the department referred in her response to the Yabloko lawyer to a clause in the law regarding public rallies according to which the organizers of a public rally can be private citizens, political parties, and civil and religious associations. Accordingly, as the official indicated, the authorities do not fall under the limits of the law. In a letter she emphasized that the opinion of the Justice Ministry provided in response to a query would not be considered as official evidence in a court of law. 
Translated by Will Dudley
rightsinrussia.info