Sergei Bakeshin has commented to Kommersant on the prospects of amending regional legislation that contradicts federal norms

Deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad region rejected a protest from the region’s prosecutor against the changes in the regional legislation. The prosecutor’s dissatisfaction was caused by a multiple increase in fines for dumping waste in the wrong place, as a result of which the penalties significantly exceeded the bar established by federal legislation.

Seven deputies voted in favor of the protest, 28 voted against it, including representatives of the Edinaya Rossia (the United Russia) Party. According to them, amendments to the Administrative Offences Code, granting governors the right to “introduce changes to establish fines in their region”, were considered at the meeting of the relevant commission. However, the Leningrad region prosecutor’s office is dealing with the issue of challenging the regional law in a court.

In case of appeal against the decree on imposing a fine which contradicts federal legislation, a court will have to cancel it, Sergei Bakeshin, Senior Associate at Maxima Legal has explained to Kommersant newspaper. Regarding the comment of the parliamentarian of the State Duma that the Head of the region may change the amount of administrative fines, the expert reminded that in no case the governor has the right to do so, as they are established by law, i.e. determined by the legislature. “Giving such powers to the governor would violate the principle of separation of powers,” Sergei Bakeshin summarized.

To read the full article (in Russian), please see Kommersant newspaper website >>>