ON THE INCONFORMITY OF PART 3 OF ARTICLE 20.1 OF THE RF AOC ENACTED ON THE 19^TH OF MARCH 2019 TO THE NORMS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE RF CONSTITUTION

He paper deals with the analysis of part 3 of Article 20.1 of the Administrative Offences Code of the Russian Federation passed on March 18, 2019, and called as a legislative ban on the offense of power. The result of the practical application of this law is disputable and not meeting the goal it was enacted for. Therefore, the author offers the following thesis: the provisions of part 3 of Article 20.1 of the RF AOC does not conform with the norms of international law, in particular the Declaration on Freedom of Political Discussion in the Media, adopted on February 12, 2004 at the 872-th meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the RF Constitution as well. The paper analyzes current legal provisions of legislation related to the mechanisms of protection of honor, dignity and business reputation depending on a subject in respect of which these rights were violated. The author carries out the analysis of special aspects of the legal protection of these rights of public persons and public officers in the relation of norms of international law, the RF Constitution and the RF Civil Code. The author considers the issue of conformity of these changes with the principles of freedom of speech, political discussion, and the established norms of international law. As a result of the study, the author concludes about the negative impact of application of part 3 of Article 20.1 of the RF AOC, for example, about the fact that the privileges of public and municipal authorities expanded, the additional mechanisms of protection of their honor, dignity and business reputation contrary to other people appeared, what, to the author’s opinion, is the development of a democratic state and civil society.