MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin is submitting to the State Duma draft amendments to the procedure of notifying the United Nations and the Council of Europe in the event of the introduction or termination of martial law or state of emergency in Russia. The official portal of legal information published a presidential decree saying that Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko will be the official representative of the president during the consideration of these amendments by the Russian parliament.
The amendments are proposed to Article 22 of the law On Martial Law and Article 37 of the law On the State of Emergency. The content of the amendments has not been published yet, but it may be related to Russia's withdrawal from the Council of Europe.
Article 22 of the law On Martial Law currently states that in case martial law is imposed on the territory of Russia or in some of its localities, the Russian president shall take measures to notify the UN Secretary-General and inform the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe of Russia’s derogation from its obligations under international treaties related to the restriction of the rights and freedoms of citizens. A similar procedure, with the exception of some details, applies to the declaration of a state of emergency (Article 37 of the law On the State of Emergency). The UN and the Council of Europe are also informed in case of the termination of martial law or the state of emergency, respectively.
Russia has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1996 and withdrew from it last March. As the Russian Foreign Ministry explained, "NATO and the EU states, abusing their majority in the Council of Europe, systematically turn this organization into an instrument of anti-Russian policy, thereby abandoning the equitable dialogue and all the principles on which this pan-European structure was built."
Martial law is currently in effect in four regions of Russia - the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
