Russia is one of the leading countries in the number of police officers among the population. Every citizen at least once in his life had contact with law enforcement officials. Moreover, not everyone knows about the legal status of police officers. Our material will detail the rights, obligations and prohibitions of law enforcement officers.
Police in Russia
No state in the world, no matter how liberal it may be, can do without state bodies for the protection of the rights of citizens. Crime is ineradicable. It existed and will always exist. Police officers help limit the number of atrocities, that is, reduce their number to a minimum. The legal status of these workers is regulated by law. In different countries, it is slightly different from each other. What does he look like in Russia?
The police in our state have a long and complicated history. Law enforcement officers existed under princes, and under emperors, and under Soviet rule. The police received their final formation only in 2011. It was then that a special federal law was issued, thanks to which law enforcement agencies received their current name, and also overgrown with a number of complex duties and powers.
Legal framework for the police
In short, the legal status of a police officer in Russia consists of his legal duties and rights. Status is confirmed by the provisions of certain regulatory acts.
The most important and obvious normative act is the country's main law, the Constitution. The first, sixth and seventh chapters of this law describe the need to organize a quality system for the protection of human and civil rights. The system itself is called law enforcement. The institutions included in this structure are subordinate to the executive and judicial branches. The police are the most important branch of the law enforcement system.
It is an integral part of a single federal executive branch. Accordingly, the legal status of a police officer consists of a number of provisions governing the work of executive authorities. These are various orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, government decrees, as well as:
- Constitution;
- International Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms;
- Federal Law "On Police";
- presidential decrees;
- a number of other federal and regional laws, for example, on weapons, on road safety measures, on social guarantees to law enforcement officers, etc.
Thus, the police are an incredibly complex and vast structure. The legal status of police officers will be described in detail below.
The principle of protection of rights and freedoms
The work of the police is based on a number of important principles, ideas and requirements called principles. Without principles, it is impossible to build a single duty or employee right. The first idea is to protect the rights and freedoms of people.
According to a survey conducted in 2011 by one of the media, about 15% of Russians are sure that the police are a “mafia structure”. 60% of the victims did not want to contact the police, and 43% would never want to deal with law enforcement officers under any circumstances. The reasons why people are so much afraid of the police are incredibly many. Most of them are associated with endless news of the arbitrary rule of law enforcement. At the same time, Russians perfectly understand the purpose of the police and its place in society: this is ensuring security, protecting freedoms, interests and rights of citizens.
Police officers are called upon to maintain public order, but they often do it too rudely, and sometimes even break the law. Law enforcement officers should remember their main mission: to protect the safety of all people, not individuals.
Rule of law
The concept of the legal status of a police officer is directly related to the law. All rights and obligations of law enforcement officers are regulated by state power and are enshrined in regulatory legal acts. Legality is a general constitutional principle. Realizing his legal status, the police officer is obliged to steadily comply with substantive and procedural law. Any deviation of an employee from legal requirements threatens to undermine the credibility of the entire system as a whole.
A policeman is a representative of not only the authorities, but also the law. He protects the public order, and therefore he himself must act in accordance with legal norms.
Impartiality principle
The most important attribute of the legal status of a police officer is impartiality. It can also be called tolerance, tolerance or even a liberal attitude. This is a qualitatively new requirement for law enforcement officers. They must fulfill their functions regardless of gender, race, nationality, language or worldview of citizens.
Impartiality was not in the USSR. Then there was a single point of view that all Soviet citizens should adhere to. Today, everything is much simpler. A person can do what he wants, it is only important that he does not break the law.
The legal status of the Russian police officer is structured in such a way that subjectivity simply does not have a place here. Law enforcement officers simply protect the law and do it objectively and honestly. The policeman must maintain his moral character, as well as remain public and open to interaction or cooperation. Only in this case, citizens will trust and support the police.
Content of the legal status of a police officer
The concept and structure of the legal status of police officers is reflected in the 2011 Federal Law. It covers a wide range of issues related to the organization of activities of the law enforcement institute of Russia. The rights and obligations of law enforcement officers are the main tools of their activity.
The main problem of legal status is still the lack of development of classifications. Thus, the rights and obligations of police officers are listed on a single list, and not grouped into separate areas of activity. The same goes for restrictions and prohibitions.
Formation of legal status
In fairness, it should be noted that until 2011, everything was even worse. In those days, when the police were still called the police, in principle, a single federal law did not exist. There were several decisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a series of decrees, as well as a number of special regulatory acts.
The dispersion of norms and regulations greatly complicated the situation of law enforcement officials. Then a difficult scientific work was carried out. The administrative and legal status of police officers was formed relatively qualitatively.
Police Responsibilities for Prevention of Law Violations
Lawyers categorize police duties differently. In our article, a systematization will be given, according to which all powers will be divided into two groups: for the prevention of violations of the law and for their immediate elimination.
To minimize the number of offenses and crimes, law enforcement officers must work with the causes of violations of the law. In the archives there are many documents that indicate the motives of the offender, the circumstances of the offense or various conditions. Having figured out the material and having formed at least a minimal idea of the reasons for breaking the law, it will be much easier for the police to work.
The next duty is the cooperation of the police with other authorities, not necessarily law enforcement. Prevention of violations of the law in this case will reach a new level.
All other duties are prescribed by law. This is the need to confirm the classification, conduct explanatory conversations with citizens, assist bailiffs and much more. All this makes up the concept of the legal status of police officers.
Responsibilities to eliminate the consequences of breaking the law
The need for immediate resolution of the situation is a priority for the police. There is an explanation for this: the direct liquidation of the consequences of atrocities takes law enforcement officers much more time and effort.
Here are the responsibilities here:
- suppression of unlawful acts;
- first aid to victims;
- emergency measures to save citizens;
- countering terrorism;
- the implementation of the search;
- detention of perpetrators, etc.
The administrative and legal status of police officers incorporates a huge number of duties. All of them, one way or another, are associated with a violation of the law - real or potential. However, the powers of the police are based on only one idea: the impartial protection of the rights, interests and freedoms of people.
Police rights
Having dealt with the duties of law enforcement officers, attention should be paid to their rights and powers. These are the most important components of the legal status of police officers, the concept and content of which are regulated by law.
Here are the highlights:
- providing optimal conditions for the performance of labor duties;
- the right to rest;
- the opportunity to get acquainted with all the documentation necessary for work;
- the right to pay;
- familiarization with reviews of their own service;
- access to state secrets, if such is necessary for the performance of state duties;
- the possibility of promotion;
- the right to consider a business dispute;
- the right to vocational education.
Naturally, this is far from all the possibilities that make up the administrative and legal status of police officers. Moreover, the total number of rights depends on the qualifications of the employee. For example, the legal status of a freelance police officer will be dramatically different from that of a “classic” policeman. An employee who is not an official in the internal affairs bodies has a much smaller amount of authority.
Limitations and Prohibitions
The legal status of a police officer by 2017 received its final image. In addition to rights and obligations, it includes a number of restrictions and even prohibitions. It is worth listing the most basic:
- a ban on the performance of official duties in the event of incapacity or limited legal capacity;
- the inability to get a job in the internal affairs department if the immediate superior of the employee is his relative or close person;
- a ban on entrepreneurial activity;
- inadmissibility of public statements, evaluations or judgments in relation to his superiors, if this is not connected with the direct duties of the employee.
Thus, the administrative-legal status of a police officer in Russia has clear boundaries in the form of restrictions and prohibitions.
Police responsibility
Police officers are legally superior to ordinary citizens. Therefore, they have a much greater responsibility. According to Article 33 of the relevant Federal Law, the sanctions imposed on employees are proportionate to the damage that they caused
There are three types of police responsibilities. The first form is called disciplinary. These are reprimands or dismissals. There is also liability. These are fines, compensation payments, as well as more complex forms of sanctions - for example, deprivation of social security for police officers.The legal status can be completely eliminated - but already as a result of criminal liability, when the policeman committed a truly major atrocity.
Legal safeguards
Warranty is a way to ensure legal status. In the law enforcement sphere there are many different guarantees: political, moral, organizational, economic and many others. As an example, one guarantee from different areas should be given.
The most important economic guarantee is specified in the Federal Law "On Police", article 47. The legal status of a police officer, as well as all his activities, is ensured through state funding.
Political guarantees were indicated above. This is the cooperation of law enforcement agencies among themselves, as well as with other government agencies.
Finally, organizational guarantees are associated with many of the details specified in the law. This is confirmation or advanced training, compiling business archives, reliance on the regulatory framework and much more.
So, the legal status of a policeman is a combination of his rights and duties, backed by restrictions and guarantees.