Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning people with a criminal record from working in taxis and public transport.

The relevant amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation will come into force on March 1, 2023.

The bill was previously adopted in the third reading by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council. 

According to the document, persons with an outstanding or outstanding conviction for grave and especially grave crimes, as well as for similar crimes provided for by the legislation of the EAEU member states, will not be able to work as drivers of taxis, buses, trams, trolleybuses and rolling stock of off-street transport. 

“Persons who have an unexpunged or outstanding conviction for the following crimes are not allowed to work directly related to driving taxis: murder, intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, kidnapping, robbery, robbery, crimes against sexual integrity and sexual freedom of the individual, crimes against public safety, crimes against the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state, crimes against the peace and security of mankind,” the text of the amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation says.

Also, the employer will be obliged to remove drivers suspected of committing these crimes, if there is relevant information from law enforcement agencies.

The norm also applies to drivers who are citizens of EAEU member states.

They will have to present a certificate of no criminal record in their home country with a translation into Russian.

In the absence of such a certificate, the employment contract with these employees will be terminated.

Already working drivers of taxis, buses, trolleybuses and trams will have to submit a certificate of no criminal record to the employer by March 1, 2023, the State Duma noted.

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State Duma deputy Oleg Morozov, in a conversation with RT, recalled that the possibility of such a ban had been discussed for a long time. 

“All our legislation in this part is developing in the direction of stricter control over all types of activities that are related to the safety of people.

For example, special requirements apply to educators or people who work in law enforcement agencies,” the deputy noted.

In turn, a lawyer, a specialist in civil and international law Maria Yarmush expressed the opinion that the new measures will make the taxi service safer.

“Taxi are directly related to the provision of services to citizens.

Undoubtedly, the life, health and safety of citizens are in the first place in the legislation.

Individuals with outstanding felony convictions should not be able to access taxi services due to the possibility of recidivism.

These people have already committed crimes, ”said the lawyer in an interview with RT.

Vladimir Putin also signed a law according to which individual entrepreneurs will also not be allowed to carry out transportation if they have an outstanding criminal record.

Failure to comply with ECtHR judgments in Russia

Vladimir Putin also signed laws on non-execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the country after March 15.

It is noted that the judgments of the ECHR will also cease to be the basis for the revision of decisions made by the courts of Russia.

As Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin noted, the ECtHR "became an instrument of political struggle against Russia in the hands of Western politicians."

“Some of his decisions directly contradicted the Constitution of the Russian Federation, our values, traditions,” the speaker of the lower house of parliament emphasized, recalling that the court, in particular, demanded that Russia recognize same-sex marriages.

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He clarified that the decisions of the ECtHR adopted after March 15, 2022 - from the date of the filing of the application by the Russian Federation to withdraw from the Council of Europe, will not be executed.

Also, payments of monetary compensation under the ECtHR rulings, which entered into force before March 15, will be made only in rubles and only to accounts in Russian banks.

Cases for receiving first aid by the military

With another law, the president allowed the Ministry of Defense to establish a list of conditions under which first aid is provided to military personnel in wartime and combat operations. 

At the same time, the federal executive authorities authorized in the field of command and control of other troops, military formations and bodies may establish the features of equipping first-aid kits, bags and sets of medical equipment.

The document is “aimed at improving medical support for servicemen of the RF Armed Forces, other troops, military formations and bodies in wartime conditions, conducting military (combat) operations, performing combat (combat-training), service-combat (operational-service) tasks in the field of defense ".

According to the explanatory note, the introduction of this provision is due to the fact that the current legislation regarding the provision of first aid does not take into account the peculiarities of the medical support of the RF Armed Forces, other troops, military formations and bodies in the performance of their intended tasks.

Denunciation of the agreement on pension rights of citizens of the CIS countries

In addition, Putin signed a law on the denunciation of the agreement on guarantees of the rights of citizens of the CIS countries in the field of pensions.

The agreement provides that when establishing the right to a pension for citizens of each of the participating countries, the length of service acquired in the territory of the former USSR was taken into account.

It is noted that this agreement successfully completed the task of taking into account the interests of those generations of citizens who had work experience in the USSR.

Currently, work is underway to conclude new bilateral agreements in the pension sector, based on the principle of proportionality.

The Russian leader signed a number of other laws, in particular, a document clarifying the procedure for assigning additional payments to pensions for coal industry workers and members of civil aviation flight crews. 

In addition, the head of state allowed free travel on electric trains for children aged five to seven years, and also allowed the printing of books in a special format for visually impaired people without paying remuneration to the author.

Russia also ratified the protocols on deferring credit payments for Cuba and the agreement between the Russian Federation and Venezuela on cooperation in space.