LAW ON MISSIONARY ACTIVITY ADOPTED IN ARKHANGELSK PROVINCE
SOVA Center for News and Analysis, 22 October 2015
Arkhangelsk deputies adopted on first reading a law regulating missionary activity on the territory of the province.
On 22 October 2015 the Provincial Assembly adopted on first reading the law "On missionary activity on the territory of Arkhangelsk province."
As deputy Alexander Diatlov explained, the goal of the new law is "to protect residents of Arkhangelsk province from actions of persons conducting missionary activity and preaching religious views in the name of religious organizations who do not have authorization from religious organizations for said activity. In Arkhangelsk province at the present there do not exist mechanisms of control over the activity of missionaries who come from abroad and are preaching on the territory of Arkhangelsk province."
The law requires missionaries to inform officials about the start of their activity and it defines a list of documents that missionaries must present to the authorizing body.
We recall, similar laws are in effect in Belgorod, Kursk, Voronezh and several other provinces. At the same time, a number of regions have rejected laws regarding missionary activity in view of their ineffectiveness. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 October 2015)
DEPUTIES ADOPT ON FIRST READING LAW ON MISSIONARY ACTIVITY IN ARKHANGELSK PROVINCE
At the twentieth session of the provincial assembly, the law "On missionary activity on the territory of Arkhangelsk province" was adopted on first reading.
The draft law was introduced in the form of a legislative initiative by provincial assembly deputies Alexander Diatlov and Ekaterina Pozdeeva. It contains a definition of the concepts of "missionary activity," "missionary," "informational missionary activity," and "organized missionary activity," and it establishes the procedure for conducting and terminating missionary activity on the territory of Arkhangelsk province.
"The draft law is aimed at protecting residents of Arkhangelsk province from actions of persons who conduct missionary activity and preach religious views in the name of religious organizations, without having authorization from religious organizations for said activity. In Arkhangelsk province at the present there do not exist mechanisms of control over the activity of missionaries who come from abroad and are preaching on the territory of Arkhangelsk province," deputy Alexander Diatlov explained the essence of the draft law.
Missionaries will be required to inform authorities about the start of the performance of missionary activity. There also is defined a list of documents that must be presented to the authorizing body by a missionary before the start of performance of missionary activity. The adoption of the provincial law "On missionary activity on the territory of Arkhangelsk province," Alexander Diatlov said, will permit regulating the activity of religious associations that are performing missionary activity on the territory of Archangelsk province.
Similar laws have been adopted in a number of constituent elements ["subjects"] of the Russian federation: Kursk, Belgorod, Smolensk, Voronezh, Kostroma, Pskov, Novgorod provinces, the Jewish autonomous oblast, and the republic of North Ossetia—Alania, the press service of the provincial assembly reports.
The draft law evoked harsh disputes among deputies. The majority spoke in favor of the adoption of the law on first reading on condition of its improvement for the second reading. At the same time, doubts arose about the legal effectiveness of a legislative act, inasmuch as thus far there has been no decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian federation about whether constituent elements of the federation may adopt such laws or whether this is the prerogative of the federal center.
At the conclusion of lengthy discussion, the bill was adopted on first reading. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 October 2015)
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