© S. A. Khvalev

The Federal Law “On Combating Corruption” specified the cooperation of the state with civil institutions as one of the basic principles of combating corruption in the Russian Federation. At the same time, this principle was more specifically reflected in the legal regulation established in Article 2 of the Federal Law “On Anti-Corruption Expertise of Normative Legal Acts and Draft Normative Legal Acts”, which determines cooperation of authorities at all levels and their officials with civil institutions as one of the main principles of organization of expert activities during the anti-corruption expertise of legal acts and their drafts.

It should be noted that the call for establishing close connections between independent experts on anti-corruption expertise and public authorities in the sphere of combating corruption has repeatedly been voiced in various plans, programs and strategies for combating corruption. In particular, according to the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and the National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2010-2011, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 460 of April 13, 2010, it was determined that an anti-corruption expertise must be conducted mandatorily, as well as with broad engagement of independent experts. The National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2018-2020, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 378 of June 29, 2018, highlights once again the necessity for anti-corruption expertise involving public, scientific and educational institutions as independent experts.

For that matter, Russian society has responded quite actively to the need to establish close connection in organizing objective anti-corruption expertise on a systematic basis. This way, as of January 14, 2020, there are 425 organizations included in the state register of independent legal experts accredited for independent anti-corruption expertise. Moreover, this list includes organizations which have a well-deserved all-Russian reputation, such as Ural State Law University, Irkutsk State University, Baikal State University, public organization “Association of Lawyers of Russia”, Speransky Institute of Legislation and Legal Information, local chambers of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia, Russian Railways, etc. To our knowledge, there are 2611 citizens included in the state register of accredited independent expert persons.

The regulation of the status of experts on independent anti-corruption expertise and the procedure for their accreditation are stipulated in several acts. Thus, the general provision regarding the status of independent experts is stipulated in Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 96 of February 26, 2010 “On anti-corruption expertise of normative legal acts and drafts of normative legal acts”. This decree specifies that independent anti-corruption expertise can be carried out by both legal entities and persons accredited by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as experts in conducting independent anti-corruption expertise.

However, more detailed regulation of the legal status of independent experts and the procedure for their accreditation is established in the Order of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation No. 57 of March 29, 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the Order). It is this Order that fixed the requirements for applicants for expert status and the procedure for granting this status.

This way, in accordance with the Order, applicants for accreditation may be:

1) Citizens of the Russian Federation with higher education and at least 5 years of experience in the specialty, except:  

- Citizens with an outstanding conviction or unexpunged criminal record;

- Citizens, who have a record of committing corruption offenses in the register of persons dismissed due to loss of trust;

- Citizens working in the bodies and organizations responsible for conducting anti-corruption expertise.

2) Legal entities where at least 3 employees, meeting the above requirements, are working, except:

- International or foreign organizations;

- Non-profit organizations with the functions of a foreign agent.

Upon verification of all the submitted documents, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation grants the status of an independent expert to the corresponding legal entity or the person.

The accreditation period for an expert is 25 working days from the date of registration of the accreditation application at the Ministry of Justice of Russia. It is fixed that after this period there must be one of two decisions made:

1) to accredit a person with forwarding a notification of accreditation as an independent expert to the applicant

2) to decline accreditation with forwarding a notification to the applicant about the denial of accreditation as an independent expert  

An application for accreditation as an independent expert with all the necessary documents attached can be sent to the relevant persons by mail or through the Unified Web Portal.

In this case a person sends the following documents to the Ministry of Justice of Russia for the purposes of his/her accreditation:

1) Application for accreditation of a person;

2) Copy of a Russian passport;

3) Copy of a higher education certificate;

4) Copy of a document confirming the degree (if any);

5) Copy of an employment record book (with a record of being employed at the present time);

6) An information letter from the place of work (service) confirming that the citizen has the relevant work experience in the specialty.

A citizen may submit voluntarily a document, confirming a criminal record (or its absence) and (or) the fact of criminal prosecution or termination of criminal prosecution.

The Order fixes that a legal entity submits to the Ministry of Justice of Russia the following documents for the purpose of its accreditation as an independent expert:

1) Application for accreditation of a legal entity;

2) Copy of a higher education certificate of an employee meeting the requirements for accreditation as an independent expert for persons (hereinafter referred to as the employee);

3) Copy of a document confirming the degree of the employee (if any);

4) Copy of an employment record book of the employee (with a record of being employed at the present time);

5) Copy of a Russian passport of the employee;

6) Statement of the employee’s consent for his/her personal data processing.

It is also specified that a legal entity may submit on its own discretion the following documents to obtain accreditation:

- Copy of a certificate of state registration of a legal entity;

- Document confirming the employee’s criminal record (or its absence).

The Order determines an applicant’s non-compliance with the above conditions, or submitting a partial set of documents or documents containing inaccurate information as grounds for denial of accreditation.

Moreover, after addressing the grounds for denial to provide the public services, the applicant has a right to re-apply for accreditation.

According to the Order, accreditation as an expert in conducting independent anti-corruption expertise is provided on a cost-free basis.

The fact of accreditation of a legal entity or a person as experts in conducting independent anti-corruption expertise is confirmed by submission of an accreditation certificate by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in the form fixed by Order No. 145 of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated July 27, 2012.

Information on accredited independent experts is recorded into the state register within 5 working days from the date of issuance of an accreditation order.