The format of public events in modern Russia

Maliavkina Nataliia Valeryevna PhD in Law Associate professor, Department of constitutional, administrative and criminal law, Central Russian Institute of Management, Branch of RANEPA 302028, Russia, Orel region, Orel, Oktyabrskaya str., 12, room 225-2 nata-m-orel@mail.ru Yastrebov Aleksei Egorovich PhD in History Associate professor, Department of constitutional, administrative and criminal law, Central Russian Institute of Management, Branch of RANEPA 302028, Russia, Orel region, Orel, Oktyabrskaya str., 12, room 225-2 yastrebov2008@yandex.ru Mosina Ekaterina Igorevna PhD in Economics Associate Professor, Department of economics and economic security, Central Russian Institute of Management, Branch of RANEPA 302028, Russia, Orel region, Orel, Oktyabrskaya str., 12, room 225-2 caterinamosina@yandex.ru

Aleksikova Ol'ga Evgenyevna PhD in Law Associate professor, Department of civil law and social security, Central Russian Institute of Management, Branch of RANEPA 302028, Russia, Orel region, Orel, Oktyabrskaya str., 12, room 229-2 aloe30@mail.ru

The right to assemble peacefully and without weapons, to hold meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and picketing allows not only to focus on current events of our time, but also to honor memorable historical dates, contributing to the formation of an ideology of educating a new generation, conviction on significant issues ^{[1, p.35]}, the transfer of spiritual and moral values of society.

The advantage of holding such events is:

building a kind of dialogue and exchange of views between citizens and government representatives, leading to effective resolution of topical issues;

focusing on topical issues that require immediate solutions from the authorities, to a certain extent exerting pressure on public authorities;

preservation of traditions and transfer of spiritual values to the younger generation.

The adoption of Federal Law No. 54-FZ of June 19, 2004 "On Assemblies, Rallies, demonstrations, marches and picketing" was an important step towards the development of constitutional democracy ^{[2, p.10]} in order to expand the forms of direct participation of citizens in the life of the state. However, due to the scale of such events, it is important for public authorities to respect the interests of citizens, ensure security, and, if necessary, protect their rights and freedoms.

The Federal law defines the notification procedure for executive authorities at the preparatory stage of a public event. This is necessary to ensure a balance between the interests of its organizers and representatives from the authorities, when agreeing on the form, place, and time of the event. In practice, there are cases when disagreements at the initial stage force the organizers to abandon the planned public event. On this occasion, some researchers express their position that the procedure for notifying the event stipulated in the law is more permissive ^[3].

It is important to take into account that the restrictions provided for by law are fully justified, this is due to the fact that when people gather charged with common ideas, the emotional background increases and in practice there are cases when a group of people turned into an angry crowd, creating a danger of disturbing public order. In such situations, people's ability to think sensibly is lost, which creates certain difficulties in managing such a group of people. In this regard, the restrictions fixed at the legislative level are a kind of balance, in order to preserve the private interests of its participants who express their opinions publicly and the authorities responsible for the safety of citizens ^{[4, p.45]}. If the organizers or participants of the event do not agree with the requirements and restrictions put forward, seeing this as an infringement of their rights, they can challenge the violations by filing a lawsuit.

According to the data of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, decisions of actions (inactions) of public authorities on issues related to obstruction of the organization and holding of public events are challenged annually.  From 30 to 39% of the cases considered are disputed on issues regarding the venue, time, and number of citizens.

In 2023, the courts received 1,337 cases, 1066 cases were considered, 416 of them with satisfaction of claims.

In 2022, 1,354 cases were submitted to the courts, 1,011 were considered, 389 of them were satisfied.

 in 2021, there were 964 cases, 839 cases were considered, of which 257 cases were satisfied;

In 2020, there were 1,141 cases, 816 cases were considered, 312 of them were satisfied.

When preparing for a public event, it is important to correctly calculate the deadlines established by law and send them to the executive authorities (15 days before it is held, but no later than 10 days before the start of the event itself). Please note that the days when the notification is sent and the day of the event itself are not counted. It is important to take into account that if the day before the event coincides with Sunday and (or) a non-working holiday, then the notification should be submitted on the previous working day. An exception is the holding of a single picketing using a prefabricated collapsible structure and picketing conducted by a group of people.

In our opinion, it is fair to mention the gaps in legislation regarding the organization of public events that do not require delay, which are a kind of reaction of citizens, for example, to a number of political events taking place in the country or in the world. The legislation does not provide for a reduction in the time required to prepare for such events. This can be explained by the need for careful preparation to ensure the public safety of citizens. Most likely, this is why a number of mass actions, such as flash mobs, mass runs, concerts of a political nature are still not included in the federal law regulating public events, the organization of such actions does not require notification in 10-15 days. On the other hand, law enforcement officials note that such mass actions contribute to a large gathering of citizens and can also lead to violations of public order. That is why it is necessary to consolidate the concept of "mass event" at the legislative level. This form, along with public events, also implies the free expression of a certain position on various issues of domestic and foreign policy.

An important requirement in preparing for a public event is the right venue. The federal law and the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation specify the places where it is impossible to hold public events. For example, the law of the Orel region specifies the direct addresses prohibiting the organization of events during fairs. On the contrary, the law of the Belgorod region has expanded the list of such places, these are not only tasks where authorities are located, but also playgrounds, preschool institutions, as well as educational and health institutions, social protection agencies, airports and train stations, etc. Quite interesting is the ban on holding events near 10 meters to residential and apartment buildings houses, except for events held by the residents of these houses themselves.

At the same time, it should be taken into account that if the number of participants is planned to be less than 100 people at a public event, then notification to the authorities is not required. The laws of the subjects previously contained restrictions on holding public events within a radius of 50 meters from public authorities. However, the Constitutional Court considered such norms to be beyond the legislative powers of those regions where these norms were adopted. In June 2020, the Constitutional Court came to similar conclusions when the laws of the subject prohibited organizing rallies near educational organizations (150 meters)  (Resolution of the Constitutional Court dated 06/04/2020 No. 27-P).

The executive authorities may, within the first three days after receiving notification of the upcoming event, adjust the form, place, time, as well as the purpose of its holding. In such cases, it is necessary to point out the inconsistency of the legislative framework, the ambiguity of the interpretation of the purpose of the event and the possibility of bringing administrative or criminal liability in case of violation.

The proposals received by the organizer from the executive authorities must be motivated, specifying the impossibility of holding the event at the proposed place and (or) at the stated time due to the inability to protect public interests. Such refusals are sent in case of possible disruption of the uninterrupted operation of vital municipal, social or transport infrastructure and communications, or if there may be interference with the movement of pedestrians and (or) vehicles, or other reasons provided for by law.

It is also important to comply with the requirements related to the organizers of the public event themselves. Firstly, the fact of having citizenship of the Russian Federation is mandatory, secondly, reaching the age of 18, and for rallies and meetings - 16 years; thirdly, during the event itself, the organizer must have a distinctive sign.

In addition to the above restrictions, prohibitions are established for the organizers of the event, for example, when a person has been brought to administrative responsibility two or more times for such offenses as obstruction of the organization or holding of public events; minor hooliganism accompanied by obscene language in public places; violation by the organizer of the established procedure for holding a public event, etc.

When preparing for a public event, attention should be paid to its campaigning, which is possible only after coordinating all the actions of the organizers with the authorities, otherwise the person will be brought to administrative responsibility.  Currently, the method of distributing information through the Internet space has become quite widespread. In this regard, there is a law enforcement practice of discretion by law enforcement agencies of signs of agitation when publishing information on the Internet accessible to an unlimited number of people if records of uncoordinated public events are contained ^{[5, p.88]}. The signs of illegal agitation also include information transmitted about illegally organized events via messengers ^[6].

When planning public events, it is important to take into account external factors that can negatively affect the safety of citizens. The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 made radical changes to the order of all public events ^[7]. According to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, in the period from March 30 to May 11, a general regime of non-working days was introduced, and the regions were ordered to introduce a self-isolation regime.

Due to the impossibility of holding festive events dedicated to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the "Window of Victory" campaign was organized, when thematic drawings and inscriptions were posted, and then it was broadcast on the Internet on personal pages on social networks. Also this year, the "Immortal Regiment" was organized for the first time in a remote format. A virtual procession was held on the official website of the event, where everyone could submit their application. This action had a socially significant character, so the requirements for participants were quite flexible.

However, it was not without incidents. Among the photos of WWII veterans, the attackers placed portraits of Nazi criminals – Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler. Two acts were revealed at once under Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Rehabilitation of Nazism". After the event, the moderators announced several hacker attacks in order to disrupt it.

The disadvantage of such online actions is the lack of an opportunity to prevent such situations, therefore, in fact, it is only possible to bring to justice for the actions committed. Therefore, in order to prevent and eliminate such incidents, it is important at the legislative level to consolidate possible digital platforms for events and timely control to eliminate the consequences ^{[8, p.335]}.

Such actions do not fall under more than one traditional form of public events, despite the fact that they have become quite common. Since the beginning of the special military operation in some regions, the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation have imposed restrictions on holding public and mass events. So on the eve of Victory Day, the usual format of the mass march was replaced by a car rally, the essence was that drivers decorate their cars with portraits of veterans, citizens also attached photos of relatives to clothes, changed the user's photo on social networks, etc.

In addition, since 2023, the "Countless Regiment" campaign has acquired a new format, demonstrating continuity in the fight against Nazism, citizens used not only portraits of heroes of the Great Patriotic War, but also participants in a special military operation. The cancellation of the usual march, thanks to an expanded range of formats, made it possible to disperse and organize events in an online format.

Under the conditions of forced restrictions, public events have actually switched to an online format thoroughly. In order to control their implementation, it is necessary to legally fix a special set of conditions. In the current practice, the concept of "digital public events" should be consolidated at the legislative level and separate requirements should be developed, securing an accessible digital platform on which it will be possible to hold.

Despite the fact that the event will be held in a digital format, it is important to notify the executive authorities. The submission of information about the organizer of the event does not require any new legislative innovations, however, the question arises about the number of participants. E.N. Grigoriev and O.S. Badyul propose to introduce online registration before the start of the event ^{[8, p.336]}. It is easier to control the number of participants in the online format than in the traditional field, if, for example, you set a software limit on the number of participants during registration.

Summing up, it should be noted that the restrictions imposed on public events are necessary on the part of public authorities in order to ensure and respect the interests of state and public safety, public order, public health and morals, as well as the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. With the transition to the online format of public events, the legislator needs to develop a special set of conditions:

to fix the method of holding a public event in the Federal Law "On Meetings, Rallies, Demonstrations, Marches and Picketing", providing for an in-person format and an online format using digital technologies;

regulate the requirements for holding digital events (including the choice of an online platform)  and mandatory advance coordination of the actions of the organizers with the executive authorities of the subject or local self-government bodies;

to ensure legal guarantees and respect for the constitutional right to hold public events in digital format, amendments should be made to the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, providing for administrative liability for violation of the established procedure for organizing or holding a digital public event.