Anouncement
Sergey Bulavin takes part in meeting of Public Council under Russia’s President on civil society development and human rights
State Secretary and Interior Minister Deputy Police Lieutenant General Sergey Bulavin took part in the meeting of the Public Council under Russia's President on civil society development and human rights to the topic: "Police Reform: Public Participation Challenges and Prospects" that took place on April 10 in Moscow. He informed the meeting participants on the reform major steps, and the role of the civil society in establishing and maintaining the Internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation.
In his address, Sergey Bulavin emphasized that the success recipe of the reform of Russia's Internal Affairs bodies was based on creating an efficient system of public control over the activities of the law enforcement agencies by the civil society, which should be done in the atmosphere of openness and trust.
This is the strategy that has been outlined and recognized in the Federal Law on Police. The major objective of the police activities should principally change - from the total control over the society to the protection of constitutional rights and freedoms of each citizen.
The State Secretary and Interior Minister Deputy reminded the participants that the public discussion of the Federal Law on Police provisions had triggered the public control mechanism for considering other important draft laws covering the key areas of the state policy in the field of the social and economic development of the Russian Federation.
Over 1.5 million people visited the Internet portal set up specifically for the draft law discussion. They gave over thirty-three thousand responses most of which were taken into account when finalizing the draft law. The work resulted in submitting to the State Duma the document reflecting the views of lawyers, practical experts, human rights activists and public.
During the preparation of the Federal Law on Police, the authors succeeded in bringing the national legislation closer to the international law principles and norms, and the world's police activity standards.
Sergey Bulavin reminded the participants that the current changes were the first such a large-scale, comprehensive and essential reform of the Internal Affairs bodies in Russia. Multiple attempted reforms of the Internal Affairs system both before and after the October Revolution were not completed and had no success.
The current reform differs essentially from the previous ones in that it aims at setting up a brand-new law enforcement structure, and protecting individual and social interests rather than simply modifying another state control body.
Quality changes and increase in efficiency of the activities of such a huge and complex state system as Russia's MVD cannot be completed quickly and in all parts of the country. It requires a "transition period" in order to adjust all new mechanisms, to professionally strengthen staff on each level and in all areas, and to change the personnel psychology. It is premature to speak about the reform completion.
Concluding the address, Sergey Bulavin thanked the organizers for the opportunity to discuss topical issues of the MVD reform with the public organization members. He pointed out again that the success of the reform depended a lot on how seriously and reliably the society would treat the public control issues. In its turn, Russia's MVD is prepared to an open dialogue and joint work in order to form the mechanisms of the civil participation in police activities.
Press Center of Russia's MVD
