Martial law status. Restrictions for business and individuals in Russian regions
Pepeliaev Group advises that, on 19 October 2022, Presidential Decrees No. 7561 and No. 7572 came into force. They introduced martial law as of midnight of 20 October 2022 on the territories of Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic, as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and established special regulation in a number of other constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
1. Martial law: specific features of the regime
Legal specifics
The state may use extreme methods of administration and special regulation of social relationships and impose additional legal restrictions.
Principal restrictions
- Enhancing the protection of public order and public security at military sites and important facilities of civil infrastructure;
- Introducing control over the operations of facilities that ensure the functioning of transport, utilities and communications, as well as power engineering facilities.
- Evacuating items of economic, social and cultural significance, as well as relocating residents to safe areas with stationary or temporary accommodation being provided to them on a compulsory basis;
- Introducing and ensuring a special regime of entering and leaving a territory where martial law applies, as well as travel restrictions within such areas;
- Engaging citizens in the manner established by the Russian Government to perform work for the needs of defence and to participate in the fight against fires, epidemics and epizootic outbreaks;
- Seizing property required for the needs of defence pursuant to the Federal Law fr om organisations and individuals, with the state subsequently paying the value of the seized property;
- Introducing a curfew (with violation resulting in detention for up to 30 days);
- Limiting the movement of vehicles and inspecting them;;
- Establishing a special regime of the trade in medicines and pharmaceuticals containing narcotic and other potent substances, etc.;
- Introducing military censorship of mail and messages transferred via telecommunications systems, as well as control over telephone conversations, establishing censorship bodies to deal directly with these issues, etc.
According to the proposals4 of the Ministry of Defence Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Security Service and other security or military services the Russian Government must, within three days, prepare a list of special measures for ensuring security within the territories of Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic, as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, wh ere martial law has been introduced.
If necessary, other measures may be applied while martial law is in effect, as provided for in Federal Constitutional Law No. 1-FKZ «On martial law» dated 30 January 20025, for instance:
- temporary restriction of economic and financial activities;
- temporary restriction of trade in property;
- temporary restriction of the movement of goods, services and financial assets;
- temporary restriction of the search, receipt, transfer, production and distribution of information;
- temporary change in the form of ownership of companies;
- temporary change in the procedure and conditions of bankruptcy;
- temporary change in the regime of labour;
- establishing specific features of financial, tax, customs and banking regulation. 6
PLEASE NOTE: The other measures listed above must be introduced by individual federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation. Apart fr om the territories wh ere martial law has been established such restrictions may extend to other territories where martial law has not been introduced. 7
2. Levels of preparedness
Pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 757 the territory of the Russian Federation has been divided into four zones with different levels of responsiveness and preparedness, with each such level implying a different scope of powers granted to heads of constituent entities of Russia and a different degree to which it restricts the rights and freedoms of citizens.
― martial law, 4 areas: Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions
― 8 constituent entities near the state border: Republic of Crimea, Krasnodar territory, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh, Kursk and Rostov regions and the city of Sevastopol
― 18 constituent entities in the Central and Southern Federal Districts, including Moscow
― all other regions of Russia
Enhancing the protection of public order and public security at military sites and important facilities of civil infrastructure (public bodies, transport, the power sector, etc.)
Special operating hours of infrastructure facilities
Controlling the operations of transport, utilities and communications facilities, print shops, data processing centres and automated systems, and ensuring that they are used for the needs of defence
Limiting the movement of vehicles and inspecting them
Introducing a special regime of entering and leaving a territory, introducing travel restrictions within such territory
Temporarily relocating the local population to safer regions
Introducing territorial defence
PLEASE NOTE: The readiness regimes established by the Decree of the Russian President, as well as their content and legal justification, are not defined in other regulations. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that the "levels of response and alert" were introduced to provide constituent entities of the federation with the opportunity to independently determine the need for certain measures of rapid response to the changing social and political situation.
The heads of constituent entities of the "orange" zone (the average level of response) have the right, in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation on mobilisation8 , to carry out mobilisation measures in the economic sphere, for example, the creation of mobilisation capacities and facilities for the production of necessary products, preparing the economy for work during mobilisation and in wartime (e.g., re-purposing)9.
Formally, according to the Decree, the heads of the regions of the "yellow" zone (the Central Federal District, including Moscow and the Moscow Region and the Southern Federal District) have not yet transferred the regions to mobilisation economy regime (for example, the production and supply of goods, works, services for mobilisation objectives). Separate measures aimed at preparing for emergency situations and organising territorial and civil defence can be carried out on their territory.
In addition to the legislation on mobilisation, such economic measures are provided for as part of the introduction of special economic measures in the field of:
- Employment relationships (the procedure and conditions under which employees are requested to work overtime, on night shifts, weekends and non–working public holidays - Federal Law No. 273-FZ dated 14 July 2022);
- Procurement within the framework of federal laws No. 44-FZ and No. 223-FZ, including medicines and medical products (mandatory participation in contracts for the provision of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – Federal Law No.272-FZ dated 14 July 2022).
You can read more about how to organise work in the conditions of the mobilisation economy on our website.
3. What should business think about and what issues should be monitored
During the Operational Meeting with the Deputy Prime Ministers10 , it was announced that, in order to increase the production of demanded products, it is planned to fully utilise the capabilities of the military-industrial complex and actively involve the business community. In view of the above we recommend that you:
1Monitor subordinate legislation of the Russian Government and federal authorities that establishes specific measures to restrict the rights and freedoms of individuals and legal entities.
2Monitor the regulations of the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where legal entities are located, establishing specific security measures in the regions and restrictions on the rights and freedoms of individuals and legal entities.
PLEASE NOTE: Regulations adopted by the Government, federal executive bodies and regional executive bodies in part or in full may have the status of a "state secret", which implies ensuring their secrecy. In particular, state secrets include information disclosing production capacities, planned or actual data about the release, supply (in kind) of biological, medical or veterinary protection products and other information on the supply of resources to the army and armed forces11.
3If a legal entity receives documents marked “confidential” or "official use only", it is obliged to ensure the safety of the information contained therein, including by restricting access to information, informing employees of responsibility for disclosure of information, etc.
4Legal entities, primarily which are part of critical infrastructure (including companies licensed to carry out pharmaceutical and/or medical activities) may be instructed to strengthen security and access to their territory.
5Update the plans of organisational measures and carry out other preparatory measures provided for by the legislation on civil defence. Information as to whether a legal entity was classified for the purposes of ensuring civil defence is secret; in order to clarify this information it is necessary to contact the regional executive bodies at the actual location of the legal entity.
Help from your adviser
Taking into account the ongoing changes, Pepeliaev Group’s lawyers are ready to provide companies with the necessary legal support on issues directly or indirectly related to how the regulation is being implemented.
Contact details
1 Presidential Decree No. 756 "On introducing martial law in the territories of Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic, as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson regions” dated 19 October 2022.
2 Presidential Decree No. 757 "On measures taken in constituent entities of the Russian Federation in connection with Decree No. 756 of the President of the Russian Federation dated 19 October 2022” dated 19 October 2022.
3 article 7(2) of Federal Constitutional Law No. 1-FKZ “On martial law” dated 30 January 2002
4 clause 2 of Presidential Decree No. 756 dated 19 October 2022
5 clause 3 of Presidential Decree No. 756 dated 19 October 2022
6 article 8(1) of Federal Constitutional Law No. 1-FKZ “On martial law” dated 30 January 2002.
7 article 8(1) of Federal Constitutional Law No. 1-FKZ “On martial law” dated 30 January 2002
8 Federal Law No. 31-FZ “On Mobilisation Training and Mobilisation in the Russian Federation” dated 26 February 1997
9 Article 8 of Federal Law No. 31-FZ “On Mobilisation Training and Mobilisation in the Russian Federation” dated 26 February 1997
10 http://government.ru/news/46826/
11 Article 2 of Russian Law No. 5485-I of “On state secret” dated 21 July 1993
12 Article 2 of Russian Law No. 5485-I of “On state secret” dated 21 July 1993
13 Methodological recommendations on categorising objects of critical informational infrastructure in the healthcare sector
14 Article 9 of Federal Law No. 28-FZ “On civil defence” dated 12 February 1998