Topical issues of early termination of powers of deputies of representative bodies of municipalities for non-compliance with anti-corruption legislation

Sukhareva Kseniia Sergeevna Consultant of the Department of the Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory for the prevention of corruption and other offenses; Senior Lecturer of the Department of delictology and criminology at Law Institute of the Siberian Federal University 6 Maerchaka str., 6, room 1-20, Krasnoyarsk Territory, 660075, Russia kseniyasukhareva2012@mail.ru Other publications by this author

A high level of anti-corruption security of the activities of local governments is of fundamental importance for improving the efficiency of their work and respecting the interests of the population of the relevant municipality. The extension of the anti-corruption legislation to deputies of various levels as persons holding municipal positions is the result of its evolution ^{[1, p. 3]}. Following the logic of the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the extension of the requirements of anti-corruption legislation to deputies of representative bodies of municipalities is an element of an effective legal mechanism capable of protecting legal democracy from abuse and criminalization of public a government whose legitimacy is largely based on public trust. Ensuring the effectiveness and achievement of these goals is conditioned by the legislatively fixed possibility of early termination of the powers of deputies of representative bodies of municipalities in case of non-compliance with restrictions, prohibitions, non-fulfillment of duties established by anti-corruption legislation [Definition of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated January 26, 2017 No. 135-O // SPS "Consultant Plus." URL: https://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc&base=ARB&n=490236#uJ8Ny1UBobqbJgW5 (date of application: 17.11.2023)].

The current legislation provides for a fairly wide list of grounds for early termination of the powers of deputies of representative bodies of municipalities, which are fixed in various provisions of Article 40 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ dated 06.10.2003 "On General Principles of the Organization of Local Self–Government in the Russian Federation" (hereinafter - Federal Law No. 131-FZ). Thus, in accordance with the provisions of Part 10 of Article 40 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ, the powers of a deputy may be terminated prematurely in the following cases: death; resignation at his own request; recognition by the court as incompetent or with limited legal capacity; recognition by the court as missing or declared dead; entry into force of a court conviction against a deputy, as well as in other cases established by Federal Law No. 131-FZ and other laws.

The possibility of early termination of the powers of a deputy in case of non-compliance with restrictions, prohibitions, and non-fulfillment of duties established by anti-corruption legislation is provided for in Part 7.1 of Article 40 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ.

In this context, it is important to emphasize that "the purpose of early termination of the powers of a deputy is to protect public relations that develop in the course of the activities of a representative body of a municipal formation from malicious corruption encroachments" ^[2]. In the case of illegal behavior of a deputy, including in the form of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of the requirements of anti-corruption legislation, early termination of powers acts as a reaction to such behavior, which confirms the regularity of attributing this measure to anti-corruption security measures ^[3].

The actively changing legislation regulating the activities of persons holding municipal positions (which include deputies), as well as the legal uncertainty of the content of anti-corruption standards and the procedure for their observance by persons holding municipal positions, have caused difficulties in the mechanism of implementation of certain anti-corruption procedures provided for by law. As a result, a disparate law enforcement practice has been formed on the issues of compliance by these persons with anti-corruption standards and the application of a measure of early termination of powers against deputies if they do not comply with restrictions, prohibitions and do not fulfill duties established in order to combat corruption.

The formation of an effective anti-corruption policy, including by consolidating anti-corruption standards in relation to deputies of representative bodies of municipalities, was due to the economic, social and political situation prevailing in the country by the end of the 20th century. In his first Message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on July 8, 2000 The President of Russia stressed that "the dictates of the shadow economy and "gray" schemes, rampant corruption and massive outflow of capital abroad were largely facilitated by the state itself. Contributed to the vagueness of the rules and unjustified restrictions" [Message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. July 8, 2000 URL: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/21480 (date of access: 11/15/2023)]. That is why, according to T. B. Basova, anti-corruption has become one of the directions of transformation of the administrative and managerial system of Russia for a decade..." ^{[4, pp. 6-7]}. Confirmation of the beginning of the anti-corruption transformation was the adoption of Federal Law No. 273–FZ dated December 25, 2008 "On Combating Corruption" (hereinafter - Federal Law No. 273-FZ) and further progressive consolidation of anti-corruption standards of conduct in relation to various representatives of public authorities.

The dissemination of anti-corruption standards to deputies of representative bodies of municipalities has become an important milestone in the formation of the state anti-corruption policy. Their observance deters deputies from committing corruption offenses, in turn, non-compliance allows them to legally limit potentially dangerous activities by early termination of parliamentary powers.    

In the scientific literature ^{[3, 5-7]} it is noted that anti-corruption standards as a scientific category are at the stage of scientific and practical understanding. The legislator, in turn, paragraph 5 of Article 7 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ establishes the concept of "introduction of anti-corruption standards", which means the establishment of a unified system of prohibitions, restrictions and permits for the relevant field of activity, ensuring the prevention of corruption in this area.

Anti-corruption standards that apply to deputies of representative bodies of municipalities can be divided into general and special (additional) ones ^[8]. The attribution of the standard to one type or another is due to the basis for the replacement of a person with a municipal position of a deputy of a representative body of a municipal formation. In accordance with the provisions of Part 5 of Article 40 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ, deputies may exercise their powers both on a permanent and non-permanent basis.

General anti-corruption standards apply to deputies who fill their positions on both a permanent and non-permanent basis. In accordance with the provisions of Article 12.1 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ, these include:

– prohibition to replace public positions of the Russian Federation, public positions of subjects of the Russian Federation, other municipal positions, positions of state or municipal service, unless otherwise established by federal laws;

– the obligation, in accordance with the established procedure and in cases provided for by law, to provide information on their income, expenses, property and property obligations, as well as information on income, property and property obligations of their spouses and minor children;

– the obligation to report on the occurrence of personal interest in the performance of official duties, which leads or may lead to a conflict of interest, as well as to take measures to prevent or resolve such a conflict.

Special anti-corruption standards apply to deputies who fill their positions on a permanent basis. They are partially fixed by Part 7 of Article 40 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ, and a more complete list is provided for by the provisions of Article 12.1 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ. Thus, persons holding municipal positions and exercising their powers on a permanent basis are not entitled to:

– engage in entrepreneurial activity personally or through trusted persons;

– to use for non-official purposes information, means of logistical, financial and information support intended only for official activities;

– receive remuneration in connection with the performance of official (official) duties not provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation (loans, monetary and other remuneration, services, payment for entertainment, recreation, transportation costs) and gifts from individuals and legal entities, etc. 

Also, special standards should include the prohibition to open and have accounts (deposits), store cash and valuables in foreign banks located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, own and (or) use foreign financial instruments, provided for in paragraph 1.1 of Part 1 of Article 2 of Federal Law No. 79-FZ dated 05/07/2013. The ban applies to deputies of representative bodies of municipal districts, municipal districts and urban districts exercising their powers on a permanent basis, deputies holding positions in representative bodies of these municipalities, as well as their spouses and minor children.

         It is essential for law enforcement practice to prevent cases of abuse of the right by municipal deputies when they make decisions on early termination of powers. As follows from the provisions of Part 7.1 of Article 40 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ, the powers of deputies of representative bodies of municipalities are terminated prematurely in case of non-compliance with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation. Despite the mandatory provisions fixed by the legislator, the law enforcement practice of representative bodies does not differ in their strict observance.

The grounds for a meeting of the representative body of a municipal formation on the issue of early termination of the powers of a deputy are, as a rule, the following documents received by the specified body:

– representation of the prosecutor based on the results of the verification measures in the order of supervision. Having established the facts of non–compliance with anti-corruption standards, the prosecutor submits an idea on the elimination of violations to the representative body of the municipality with various requirements, including the early termination of the powers of the deputy who committed the violation;  

– the report of the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation on the prevention of corruption and other offenses (hereinafter – the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation) on the results of the verification of the reliability and completeness of the deputy's information on income, expenses, property and property obligations (hereinafter – verification of income information, verification) and the statement of the highest official of the subject of the Russian Federation on the application to to the deputy, measures of responsibility for non-compliance with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation established as a result of the audit;

– the report of the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation on the results of cost control and the proposal of the person who made the decision to control costs, on the application of legal liability measures to the deputy based on the results of the control;

– information from the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation on non-compliance by a person with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation, which became known during the analysis of available and (or) incoming information.

Considering at a meeting of the representative body of the municipality the issue of early termination of the powers of a deputy in connection with non-compliance with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation, deputies assess the circumstances of the committed act, based on the provisions of legislation, their own experience and intuitive thinking. Additionally, at meetings of representative bodies, when discussing this issue, explanations of the deputy who committed the violation, as well as other persons, for example, the opinion of the chairman of the representative body, the prosecutor, may be heard.

In order to form a uniform approach to reviewing violations of the requirements of anti–corruption legislation and bringing to justice, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation), as law enforcement practice changes, prepares appropriate reviews of the practice of holding accountable for non-compliance with restrictions and prohibitions, non-fulfillment of duties established in order to combat corruption [<Letter> the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation from April 15, 2022 No. 28-6/10/P-2479 <On updating the Review of the Practice of holding Public (municipal) employees Accountable for non-compliance with restrictions and prohibitions, non-fulfillment of duties established in order to combat corruption> // SPS "ConsultantPlus". URL: https://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_415140 (date of access: 11/25/2023)]. Despite the fact that the title of these reviews focuses on state (municipal) employees in order to form a uniform practice of applying anti-corruption legislation, the text of the documents indicates the possibility of taking into account the positions set out in the reviews and when applying liability measures for non-compliance with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation in relation to various categories of persons, including and persons holding municipal positions [<Letter> of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated April 15, 2022 No. 28-6/10/P-2479 <On updating the Review of the Practice of holding Public (municipal) Employees Accountable for Non-compliance with restrictions and Prohibitions, non-fulfillment of duties established in order to combat corruption> // SPS "ConsultantPlus". URL: https://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_415140 (date of access: 11/25/2023)].

It is also important to note the fact that when making a decision on the application or non-application of a measure of responsibility, the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation draws the attention of authorized officials to the need to consider all the circumstances of the committed act, since the purpose of applying measures of responsibility is to prevent corruption crime in general. However, despite the available methodological support, the representative bodies of the municipality often ignore the recommendations of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation when deciding whether to prosecute a deputy for non-compliance with anti-corruption legislation and determining its measure.

As a result, in law enforcement practice, it is not uncommon for a representative body to prematurely terminate the powers of a deputy who has committed minor violations, as a rule, due to his inattention (for example, failure to specify a zero bank account, etc.). And vice versa. In a situation where significant misconduct has been committed by a deputy, deputies decide not to apply a measure of responsibility, or create situations in which such a decision will not be made, or bring to the least severe measure of responsibility that does not correspond to what they have done. The reasons for this behavior lie in following the party conjuncture, ensuring the realization of personal interests, the interests of affiliated persons, counting on a joint vote on other issues, etc.

To date, there are several options for making a decision on early termination of the powers of a deputy. In the first case, such a decision is made by the representative body of the municipality itself. In the second case, by the court, if such a decision is not made at a meeting of the representative body. In the third case, the representative body executes a court decision obliging to terminate the powers of a deputy ahead of time by making an appropriate decision.

The largest number of court decisions on the application of early termination of powers to deputies of representative bodies of municipalities is made in connection with non-fulfillment or unfair fulfillment by deputies of the obligation to provide information on income, as well as in connection with non-fulfillment of the obligation to report personal interest and failure to take measures to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest.    

The following example is indicative [Decision No. 2A-216/2020 2A-216/2020~M-249/2020 M-249/2020 dated November 11, 2020 in case No. 2A-216/2020 // Judicial and regulatory Acts of the Russian Federation. URL: https://sudact.ru/regular/doc/l5wPnCwEt8NP (date of application: 11/25/2023)] satisfaction by the court of the prosecutor's demand to declare illegal the decision of the Council of Deputies on the early termination of the powers of a deputy (at his own request) and the obligation of the Council of Deputies to terminate the powers of a deputy prematurely due to loss of confidence for failure to fulfill the obligation to report a conflict of interest that has arisen and to take measures to prevent or resolve it. Based on the application of the deputy, a lease agreement has been concluded between the administration of the municipality in the person of the head and the deputy, who is the head of a peasant (farmer) farm, for a certain period of time. In addition, this deputy is the wife of the head of the municipality. At the conclusion of the contract, the head of the municipality did not inform about the existence of personal interest and did not take measures to prevent or resolve conflicts of interest. At the request of the prosecutor, at a meeting of the Council of Deputies, the issue of removing the head of the municipality was considered, but it was decided not to apply any liability measures against the head. The deputy, who is the wife of the head of the municipality, also voted for the decision, who did not report the existence of personal interest and did not take measures to prevent and resolve conflicts of interest when voting on the non-application of liability measures against her spouse. Based on the results of consideration of the submission, the Council of Deputies decided not to hold the deputy accountable, believing that the analyzed act is a misdemeanor committed for the first time, without aggravating circumstances. Later, the powers of the deputy were prematurely terminated by the decision of the Council of Deputies in connection with his resignation at his own request. Disagreeing with such a decision, the prosecutor appealed to the court [Decision No. 2A-216/2020 2A-216/2020~M-249/2020 M-249/2020 dated November 11, 2020 in case No. 2A-216/2020 // Judicial and Regulatory Acts of the Russian Federation. URL: https://sudact.ru/regular/doc/l5wPnCwEt8NP (date of access: 11/25/2023)]. 

Similarly, the situation develops in the case of non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment of the obligation to provide information on income, expenses, property and property obligations. Thus, the deputy of the representative body of the municipality did not fulfill the obligation to provide information on income, expenses, property and property obligations within the time period established by regulatory legal acts. This act, as follows from the provisions of Part 7.1 of Article 40 of Federal Law No. 131-FZ and Article 13.1 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ, is the basis for early termination of powers or early termination of powers due to loss of confidence. The prosecutor's submission on the early termination of the deputy's powers was considered at the next meeting of the representative body, but when voting on the issue of early termination of the deputy's powers, the required number of votes was not obtained, and therefore it was decided to leave the submission without satisfaction [Decision No. 2A-299/2021 2A-299/2021~M-63/2021 M-63/2021 of 11 March 2021 in case No. 2A-299/2021 // Judicial and regulatory acts of the Russian Federation. URL: //sudact.ru/regular/doc/j2jctH9jq4x8 (date of access: 11/25/2023)].

It is also common in such situations for the representative body of the municipality to issue a warning indicating the inadmissibility of such violations in the future [Case No. 2a-1011/2021 24RS0004-01-2021-000453-45 // Berezovsky District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory: ofic. website. URL: https://berez--krk.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=sud_delo&srv_num=1&name_op=case&case_id=392743433&case_uid=dda7180d-1bb2-4007-9b01-e3090f5932cb&delo_id=41 (date of appeal: 11/26/2023)] instead of applying a measure of early termination of the powers of a deputy. In these cases, representatives of the prosecutor's office apply to the court with a demand to declare illegal the inaction of the representative body of the municipality, expressed in the failure to take a decision on the early termination of the powers of the deputy, and to impose on the administrative defendant the obligation to eliminate the violations and make a decision on the early termination of the powers of the deputy at the next meeting from the date of entry into force of the court decision.

In judicial practice, there is a tendency to form a legal position, based on which the courts believe that "to make a decision on the early termination of a deputy's powers, it is enough only to provide incomplete or unreliable information, while the orientation of the goals of such non-presentation, the lack of self-interest in this, other factors have no legal significance" [Decision No. 2A-299/2021 2A-299/2021~M-63/2021 M-63/2021 dated March 11, 2021 in case No. 2A-299/2021 // Judicial and Regulatory acts of the Russian Federation. URL: //sudact.ru/regular/doc/j2jctH9jq4x8 (date of access: 11/25/2023)].

To confirm this thesis, we will give the following example. According to the results of the verification by the authorized body of the subject of the Russian Federation of the reliability and completeness of information on the income of a deputy of the Village Council of Deputies, the information on income provided by him was found to be unreliable and incomplete. In accordance with the provisions of Article 12.1 of Federal Law No. 273-FZ, an application was sent to the Council of Deputies by an authorized person (for the period of absence of a senior official of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation) on the application of a measure of responsibility to a deputy in connection with non-compliance with the obligation established by Federal Law No. 273-FZ. The Permanent Deputy Commission of the Council of Deputies on Finance, Budget and Tax Policy decided to apply a measure of responsibility in the form of a warning to the deputy. The district prosecutor appealed to the court with an administrative statement of claim demanding that the inaction of the village Council of Deputies regarding the failure to take measures aimed at terminating the powers of a deputy be declared illegal, as well as prematurely terminate the powers of a deputy who did not fulfill the obligation established by law. The court satisfied the prosecutor's demands [Case No. 33a-13268/2023 UID 24RS0013-01-2022-002833-10 // Krasnoyarsk Regional Court : ofic. website. URL: https://kraevoy--krk.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=sud_delo&srv_num=1&name_op=doc&number=66361475&delo_id=42&new=0&text_number=1 (date of access: 11/27/2023)].

Until 2019, the prosecutor's requirements in administrative statements of claim submitted to the court were variable. In some statements, the prosecutor asked the court to prematurely terminate the powers of the deputy, while in others he asked to oblige the representative body of the municipality (as an authority with exclusive competence on this issue, enshrined in law) to prematurely terminate the powers of the deputy. In both cases, the prosecutors' demands were recognized as justified, however, the consequences of fulfilling such requirements were different.

In the cassation ruling No. 53-KA19-6 dated 07/12/2019, the Judicial Board for Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated that "the court of appeal had no legal grounds for terminating the powers of a deputy, since the decision on early termination of the powers of a deputy of a representative body of a municipal formation can only be taken by a representative body of a municipal formation" [Cassation ruling of the Judicial Board on administrative cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 53-KA19-6 dated July 12, 2019 // SPS "Consultant Plus." URL: https://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc&base=ARB&n=591693#qvpAz1UT4WUi0LhN (date of access: 11/27/2023)].

These provisions from the cassation ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation became the basis for the formation of judicial practice by lower courts of general jurisdiction. In their decisions, the courts obliged the representative bodies of municipalities to make a decision on the early termination of the powers of a deputy who violated the requirements of anti-corruption legislation. However, for various reasons, the representative body did not take the appropriate decision. Most often, when considering at a meeting of a representative body the issue of early termination of the powers of a deputy and putting it to the vote, the required number of votes was not collected. In fact, the deputy continued to exercise his powers, despite the fact that the fact of his violation of the requirements of anti-corruption legislation was established and confirmed by the court. It is obvious that in the current situation, deputies of representative bodies abused their right and deliberately made such decisions.      

The situation began to change after the transformation of the legal position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. Thus, despite the lack of legislative consolidation of the possibility of termination of the powers of a deputy due to the establishment by the court of a violation of the requirements of anti-corruption legislation, in cassation ruling No. 46-KAD22-14-K6 dated 11/19/2022, the Judicial Board for Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation indicated that "the decision on termination of the powers of such a person will be within the competence of the court regardless of the decisions taken by the representative by a local government body of decisions on refusal to terminate its powers" [Cassation ruling of the Judicial Board for Administrative Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 9, 2022 No. 46-KAD22-14-K6 // SPS Consultant Plus." URL: https://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc&base=ARB&n=737233#ta9Bz1U0gvsrXYF7 (date of access: 11/27/2023)]. As a result, the wording "to terminate the powers of a deputy ahead of schedule ..." began to appear in the operative parts of court decisions of lower courts of general jurisdiction [Case No. 2a-653/2023 UID 24RS0055-01-2023-000877-79 // Uyarsky District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory : ofic. website. URL: https://uyar--krk.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=sud_delo&srv_num=1&name_op=doc&number=401168375&delo_id=41&new=0&text_number=1 (date of appeal: 11/27/2023); Case no. 2a-1675/2023 24RS0004-01-2023-000826-25 // Berezovsky District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory : ofic. website. URL: https://berez--krk.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=sud_delo&srv_num=1&name_op=doc&number=365862608&delo_id=41&new=0&text_number=1 (date of access: 11/27/2023)].

The special literature notes that "the issue of "judicial activism" and the inadmissibility of substituting a judicial act for the substance of a decision of a public authority is debatable not only for the sphere of relations under consideration, but also for the whole system of judicial norm control" ^{[9, p. 152]}. On the one hand, obliging deputies to vote in a certain way contradicts the nature of the representative body and the ideas of representation in general. On the other hand, the early termination of the powers of a deputy of a representative body of a municipal formation by a court as a result of establishing the fact that a deputy committed a corruption offense limits the possibility of further abuse of his rights and status and increases the effectiveness of the application of early termination of powers in order to ensure the anti–corruption security of the organization and activities of the representative body.

It is important to note that "the independence and independence of local governments does not mean that it is impossible to apply state coercion measures to them for illegal actions and decisions" ^[10]. In situations that clearly indicate the abuse by the representative bodies of municipalities of their exclusive right to make decisions on the early termination of the powers of a deputy, we believe that the termination of the powers of a deputy in court is fair and lawful in order to ensure the interests of the population and effectively resolve issues of local importance.

In some cases, deputies may intentionally fail to comply with the requirements of anti-corruption legislation or perform them improperly, realizing that the negative consequences of such actions will not occur, which underlines the disregard of such deputies for compliance with anti-corruption standards of conduct. This often happens in a situation where the deadline for the next convocation of a representative body is approaching. The reaction to such behavior on the part of representatives of the prosecutor's office, if the latter establish a corruption offense, will be the filing of a statement of claim to the court. However, taking into account the time period required for carrying out events preceding the appointment of a trial in a case, as a rule, the case is considered in court already during the work of the new convocation of deputies.

For example, according to the results of an inspection by representatives of the prosecutor's office of information on income, expenses, property and property obligations (hereinafter referred to as income information) of the district Council of Deputies for the reporting period of 2019, it was found that one of the deputies reflected incomplete information about his income, and also did not provide information about expenses. The court decision indicates that the deputy also committed violations when submitting income information for the reporting period of 2016, 2017, 2018. In these cases, based on the results of consideration of the prosecutor's submission by the Council of Deputies of the municipality, the deputy was asked to take note of the information, eliminate the violations identified, prevent such violations in the future, or a decision was made to issue a warning to the deputy. Upon the fact of established violations during the verification of information on the income of a deputy for the reporting period of 2019, the prosecutor sent a submission to the Council of Deputies on 11.09.2020 demanding "to take additional immediate and effective measures to eliminate the identified violations and prevent similar violations in the future, eliminate the causes and conditions that contributed to them, resolve the issue of responsibility of the perpetrators" [Bogotolsky District Court decision Court of January 19, 2021 Case No. 2a-40/2021 (2a-758/2020) UID No. 24RS0006-01-2020-000984-76 // Bogotolsky District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory :  ofic. website. URL: https://bogotol--krk.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=sud_delo&srv_num=1&name_op=doc&number=143924622&delo_id=41&new=0&text_number=1 (date of access: 11/27/2023)].

The elections of deputies of the district Council of Deputies of the next convocation took place on 09/13/2020, and the deputy who committed these violations was elected again. The prosecutor's submission was considered at the first session of the district Council of Deputies of the new convocation on 30.09.2020, as a result of which a measure of responsibility in the form of a warning was applied to the deputy. Having disagreed with the said decision of the district Council of Deputies of the new convocation, the prosecutor filed an administrative lawsuit with the court. In the decision, the court noted that "the legal status of a person as a deputy of the district Council of Deputies of the 5th convocation is due to his election on 14.09.2015, from the date of the beginning of the work of the elected local government body of the new (6th convocation) convocation on 30.09.2020, his powers were terminated, in connection with which he could not be applied for non-compliance with the requirements anti-corruption legislation is a measure of responsibility in the form of early termination of powers" [Decision of the Bogotolsky District Court of January 19, 2021 Case No. 2a-40/2021 (2a-758/2020) UID No. 24RS0006-01-2020-000984-76 // Bogotolsky District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory :  ofic. website. URL: https://bogotol--krk.sudrf.ru/modules.php?name=sud_delo&srv_num=1&name_op=doc&number=143924622&delo_id=41&new=0&text_number=1 (date of access: 11/27/2023)]. Accordingly, it is not possible to hold a deputy accountable when he is elected to the next convocation, since he committed an offense when he was a deputy of the previous convocation.

To date, non-compliance with anti-corruption standards of conduct by deputies of representative bodies of municipalities is a fairly common phenomenon in practice. Taking into account the harm that is caused to public relations as a result of committing corruption offenses, the introduction of liability for such officials in the form of early termination of their powers is an important step towards ensuring the anti-corruption security of local self-government. At the same time, the imperfection of legislative provisions regulating the procedure for holding deputies accountable for non-compliance with anti-corruption standards of conduct significantly reduces the preventive potential of this measure and often creates conditions for possible abuses by representative bodies of municipalities. A people's deputy convicted of violating anti-corruption standards of conduct may actually be deprived of his powers under the influence of the interest of political opponents, and not as a result of an objective assessment of all legally significant circumstances of the offense and its consequences. Conversely, a deputy who has committed significant misconduct can avoid responsibility until the end of his term of office. In the current situation, in order to ensure the anti-corruption security of the activities of representative bodies of municipalities, it seems advisable to consolidate in legislation cases when the powers of a deputy are subject to early termination in court.

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