Foreign Agent: The Concept and Legislative Regulation of the Status

The concept of a foreign agent was initially introduced into legislation in 2012. At first, the term was to be used for certain non-profit organizations. This step was taken due to the need to inform society about organizations conducting political activities while receiving funding from outside Russia. Later, the term was expanded to cover individuals and unregistered associations, as well as Russian and foreign legal entities. This was due to the fact that participation in political or outreach activities while receiving money and property from foreign sources was not restricted to non-profit organizations. This session will examine the following aspects in relation to foreign agents:
• Regulating the activities of foreign agents.
• The concept of a foreign agent and criteria for adding them to a register.
• Grounds for exempting an entity/individual from the register of foreign agents.
• The obligations of foreign agents.
• Restrictions applied to foreign agents.
• Liability for violating Russian law on foreign agents.