Russian Ministry of Justice sees nothing unlawful in scrutinizing of correspondence

The Head of Russia’s Ministry of Justice stated on Tuesday that the Ministry sees no violation of legislation in the Order which allows the law enforcement agencies to scrutinize Russians’ correspondence without a court order. Alexander Konovalov said that they had not found any discrepancies with the norms of current legislation.

“If the content, the most substantive part arouses doubts, then to resolve these there is one road – via the courts all the way to the Constitutional Court”, Mr Konovalov stated.

As reported here, the Order “On approving Requirements to networks and postal services for carrying out investigative operations” was passed in the first half of July and came into force two weeks later. .

The Order allows a wide range of enforcement agencies to check letters, parcels and other postal communications. Post office staff are required to hand over correspondence on request, from authorized figures, with there being no mention of a court order in the new rules. Moreover the security services are to have online access to electronic databases via special communication channels.

There is to be unlimited access to all information about registered correspondence, transfers, etc, including that pertaining to personal data, postal addresses etc.

Human rights groups have expressed grave concern that this Order violates citizens’ constitutional rights. New information from www.rian.ru