Monitoring of the Federal Legislation dated 27.07.2004

Federal Law No. 73-FZ of July 21, 2004 on the Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Increases the fines for the legalisation (laundering) by an organised group of monetary resources or other property purchased by other persons in a criminal way or as a result of a crime. Increases significantly the responsibility for the crimes envisaged in Article 196 "Deliberate Bankruptcy" and Article 215.2 "Disabling the Life-Safety Objects".

Changes the sanctions for the organisation of prostitution: the mentioned activities are punished with freedom restriction for up to 3 years (earlier, up to 5 years) or imprisonment for up to 5 years (no change).

Also removes a number of controversies and inconsistencies. Thus, the definition of human exploitation for the purposes of Article 127.1 "Human Traffic" now does not contain removal of organs and tissues. Refines the subject of the crime envisaged in 135 "Sexual Abuse" - it may be the person having reached 18 years of age. Article 171 "Illegal Entrepreneurial Activities" now does not contain the remark defining the notion of the "Large Incomes" and "Specially Large Incomes", since the mentioned notions are described in the note to Article 169 envisaging criminal responsibility for the hampering of the legal entrepreneurial activities or other activities.

The sanction in the form of imprisonment for the property damage through fraudulence or abuse of credence in the absence of the signs of steeling is reduced from 6 to 2 years. Thus, the sanctions specified in Parts 1, 2 and 3 of Article 165 are being brought in logical compliance (earlier, the mentioned crime with qualifying signs envisaged a lighter responsibility).

Pursuant to the removal of criminal responsibility for the average damage to health through carelessness, appropriate changes are introduced in Articles 349 and 350 pertaining to military crimes.

Technical changes are also introduced in the wordings of the sanctions for the murder (Article 105), infringement on the life of a state or public figure (Article 277), person in charge of administration of justice or preliminary investigation (Article 295), employee of a law enforcement body (Article 317), as well as for the genocide (Article 357).

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 374 of July 23, 2004 on the Endorsement of the Regulation on the Federal Highway Agency

The Federal Highway Agency is a federal body of executive power in charge of the rendering of state services and state property management in the sphere of highway transport and highway maintenance, including the registration of the federal highways. The Federal Highway Agency is supervised by the Ministry of Transport.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 373 of July 23, 2004 on the Endorsement of the Regulation on the Federal Agency of State Reserves

The Federal Agency of State Reserves is a federal body of executive power in charge of the rendering of state services and state property management in the sphere of management of the state material reserves. The Federal Agency is supervised by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 372 of July 23, 2004 on the Federal Service of Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring

The Federal Service of Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring shall fulfil the functions of the management of the state property and rendering of state services in the sphere of hydrometeorology and adjacent spheres, monitoring of the natural environment and its pollution. The Service shall also fulfil the functions of the state supervision of the works in active interference in the meteorological and other geophysical processes.

The Service shall issue licenses (permissions) for the works in active interference in the hydrometeorological and geophysical processes and phenomena, as well as for activities in the sphere of hydrometeorology and adjacent spheres.

The activities of the Service are supervised by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 371 of July 23, 2004 on the Endorsement of the Regulation on the Federal Agency of the Sea and River Transport

The Federal Agency of the Sea and River Transport is a federal body of executive power in charge of the rendering of state services and state property management in the sphere of the sea (including the merchant marine, fishing, other than fish farms, and specialised ports) and river transport. The Federal Agency is supervised by the Ministry of Transport.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 370 of July 22, 2004 on the Endorsement of the Regulation on the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation

The Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia is a federal body of executive power in charge of the working out of the state policy and normative-and-legal regulation in the sphere of investigation, use, reproduction, protection of natural resources, including the management of the state fund of subsoil resources and the forestry enterprises, use and protection of the water fund, use, preservation, protection of the forestry fund and reproduction of forests, operation and security of water storage facilities and water systems of complex use, protection and other hydrotechnical structures (except for the navigation hydrotechnical structures), use of objects of fauna and their habitat (except for the objects of fauna qualified as objects of hunting), specially protected natural territories.

The Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia shall coordinate and control activities of supervised by it Federal Service of Enforcement in the Sphere of Natural Use, Federal Agency of Natural Use, Federal Forestry Agency and the Federal Agency of Water Resources.

Order of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation No. 126 of July 20, 2004 on the Endorsement of the Instruction on the Procedure of State Registration of the Rights of the Underaged for the Immovable Property and Transactions with It

Specifies the particulars of the state registration of the rights of the underaged for the immovable property and transactions with it, including submission of documents for the state registration, legal expert evaluation of the documents and legality of the transaction, entering records in the Joint State Register of the Rights for Immovable Property and Transactions with It.

The state registration, besides the documents envisaged in the legislation on the state registration of the rights for immovable property and transactions with it, needs submission of the documents confirming the rights of the legal representatives of the underaged. The Order lists the cases requiring preliminary permission (consent) of the body of trusteeship when carrying out the legal expert evaluation of the documents and checking the legality of the transaction.

Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on July 22, 2004. Reg. No. 5938.