CHAPTER 2. RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF HUMAN BEINGS AND CITIZENS

Article 17

1. The rights and freedoms of human beings and citizens are recognized and guaranteed in the Russian Republic in accordance with the principles and norms of international law and in accordance with this Constitution.
2. The fundamental rights and freedoms of human beings are inalienable and belong to each person from birth.
3. The exercise of the rights and freedoms of human beings and citizens must not infringe upon the rights and freedoms of other individuals.

Article 17.1

Citizens of the Russian Republic have the right to possess weapons for the defense of the state against attempts to usurp power and external aggression, as well as for the protection of their homes and lives in accordance with the rules provided by federal legislation and laws of the subjects.

Article 18

1. The rights and freedoms of human beings and citizens are directly applicable. They determine the meaning, content, and application of laws, as well as the activities of the branches of state and municipal power. The protection of the rights and freedoms of human beings and citizens is ensured by the judiciary.

Article 19

1. All are equal before the law and the court.
2. The state guarantees equality of rights and freedoms of human beings and citizens regardless of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, attitude towards religion, beliefs, affiliation with public associations, as well as other circumstances.
3. Any forms of restriction of citizens' rights based on social, racial, national, linguistic, or religious affiliation are prohibited.

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to life.
2. The death penalty is prohibited in the Russian Republic.

Article 21

1. The dignity of an individual is protected by the state. Nothing can be a basis for its diminishment.
2. No one shall be subjected to torture, violence, or any other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment. The use of torture by representatives of state authorities is considered a particularly grave crime. No one can be subjected to medical, scientific, or other experiments without voluntary consent.
3. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief.

Article 22

1. Everyone has the right to freedom and personal inviolability.
2. Arrest, detention, and imprisonment are only allowed based on a judicial decision. Before a judicial decision, a person cannot be detained for more than 24 hours.
3. Judicial decisions regarding arrests and searches are made based on substantiated requests from law enforcement representatives, who are criminally liable for knowingly false statements and information provided in those requests.

Article 23

1. Everyone has the right to privacy, personal and family secrets, and the protection of their honor and reputation.
2. The confidentiality of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraph, internet, and other messages is inviolable. Restrictions on this right are only permissible based on a judicial decision.
3. Judicial decisions limiting the right to confidentiality of correspondence are made based on substantiated requests from law enforcement representatives, who are criminally liable for knowingly false statements and information provided in those requests.

Article 24

1. The collection, storage, use, and dissemination of information about a person's private life without their consent is prohibited, except for individuals whose private life is of public interest due to their chosen activities.
2. Government authorities are held legally responsible for the collection, storage, use, and dissemination of information about a person's private life, as well as the use and dissemination of their personal data.
3. Government authorities and their officials are obliged to provide every individual with the opportunity to access documents and materials directly affecting their rights and freedoms. Obstruction by government authorities in the exercise of this right is punishable by law.

Article 25

1. The home is inviolable. No one shall enter a home against the will of those lawfully residing in it, except on the basis of a court decision or in cases provided for by law. The inviolability of the home is ensured by the state. Everyone has the right to defend their home.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to determine and indicate their national affiliation. No one can be compelled to determine and indicate their national affiliation.
2. Everyone has the right to use their native language and freely choose the language of communication, upbringing, education, and creative activities.

Article 27

1. Everyone who is lawfully present on the territory of the Russian Federation has the right to freely move, choose a place of stay and residence.
2. Everyone has the right to freely leave the Russian Federation. Restriction of the right to leave can only be imposed based on a legally binding court decision. A citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to enter the Russian Federation without hindrance.

Article 28

1. Everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including the right to individually or collectively practice any religion or not practice any at all. You have the freedom to choose, possess, and disseminate religious and other beliefs, and to act in accordance with them. The public expression and dissemination of religious and other beliefs should not be restricted to the extent that it does not pose a threat to the lives and health of other citizens

Article 29

1. Everyone is guaranteed freedom of thought and speech.
2. The propaganda of preparing and conducting aggressive war is prohibited.
3. No one can be forced to renounce their opinions and beliefs. No one can be held accountable for expressing them.
4. Everyone has the right to freely seek, receive, transmit, produce, and disseminate information by any lawful means. Information from open sources, as well as information and data related to the public activities and property of citizens holding elected positions and public servants, cannot be classified as state secrets.
5. Freedom of mass media is guaranteed, regardless of ownership form and place of registration of media outlets. Censorship and monopolization of information dissemination are prohibited.

Article 30

1. Everyone has the right to establish political parties, professional unions, and other public associations to protect their rights and interests. The freedom of activity of public associations and political parties is guaranteed.
2. No one can be forced to join any association or remain in it.

Article 31

Citizens have the right to peacefully assemble, hold meetings and pickets, as well as organize rallies, demonstrations, and processions with notification to the relevant executive authority. The authorities are not entitled to issue legal acts or take other actions aimed at restricting the right of citizens to peacefully assemble.

Article 32

1. Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to participate in the management of state affairs both directly and through their representatives.

      2. Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to vote and be elected to the bodies of state power and local self-government, as well as participate in referendums. To participate in        elections, a citizen of the Russian Federation, as well as foreign citizens permanently residing in the Russian Federation and participating in municipal elections, must register as a voter.

3. Citizens declared legally incompetent by a court are not entitled to vote or be elected. Citizens held in places of deprivation of liberty by court order are not eligible for election.
4. Elections in the Russian Federation are universal, equal, direct, and secret.
5. Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to participate in the administration of justice.

Article 33

1. Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to personally address, as well as send individual and collective appeals to public authorities and receive substantive responses from these authorities.

Article 34

1. Everyone has the right to freely utilize their abilities, personal property, and non-material rights for entrepreneurial and other legally permissible economic activities.
2. Economic activities aimed at monopolization and unfair competition are not allowed.

Article 35

1. The right to property is inviolable and protected by law.
2. Everyone has the right to own property, possess, use, and dispose of it.
3. Property cannot be alienated or seized except by a court decision.
4. Forced expropriation of property for state needs can only be carried out with prior and equitable compensation.
5. The right to inheritance is guaranteed.

Article 36

1. Citizens and their associations have the right to own land.

2. Ownership, use, and disposal of land and other natural resources are freely exercised by their owners, provided it does not harm the environment and does not violate the rights and lawful interests of others.
3. Natural resources are owned by the state and can be exploited by citizens and organizations of various forms of ownership in accordance with federal legislation.

Article 37

1. Everyone has the right to freely dispose of their abilities for work, choose the type of activity and profession.
2. Forced labor is prohibited.
3. Everyone has the right to work in conditions that meet safety and hygiene requirements, to receive remuneration for work without any discrimination and not below the legally established minimum hourly wage, as well as the right to protection against unemployment.
4. The right to create trade unions is guaranteed, as well as the right to individual and collective labor disputes, including the right to strike.
5. Everyone has the right to rest. To an employee under an employment contract, the duration of working hours, days off, public holidays, and paid annual leave are guaranteed as provided by federal law.

Article 38

1. The care and upbringing of children is the equal right and responsibility of parents.
2. Parents have equal rights and responsibilities regarding their common children. In case of separate living arrangements of the parents, unilateral priority in determining the children's place of residence is not allowed.
3. Parents may be deprived of parental rights or their exercise may be restricted solely based on a court decision.
4. Able-bodied children who have reached the age of 18 are obliged to take care of disabled parents.
5. The state, while ensuring the priority of family upbringing, assumes the responsibilities of parents regarding children who are left without care, as well as the search for adoptive parents. Restricting the right to adopt children who are left without care, including by foreign citizens, on grounds other than the safety and well-being of the child, is not allowed.

Article 39

1. Everyone is guaranteed social security in old age, in case of illness, disability, loss of breadwinner, for child-rearing, and in other cases established by law.
2. State pensions and social benefits are established by law and cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum.
3. The state encourages voluntary pension, medical, and social insurance, the creation of additional forms of social security, and charitable activities.

Article 40

1. Everyone has the right to housing. No one can be arbitrarily deprived of housing.
2. Low-income citizens are provided with housing through social rental at an affordable cost from state, municipal, and other housing funds in accordance with the norms established by law.

Article 41

1. Everyone has the right to healthcare and medical assistance. Medical assistance in state and municipal healthcare institutions is provided to citizens free of charge through funds from the respective budget, insurance contributions, and other sources of income.
2. In emergency situations and life-threatening conditions, everyone has the right to free medical care in healthcare institutions.
3. In the Russian Republic, programs for the protection and improvement of public health are financed, measures are taken to develop the state, municipal, and private healthcare systems, and activities that contribute to human health promotion, the development of physical culture and sports, and environmental and sanitary-epidemiological well-being are encouraged.
4. Concealment by public officials of facts and circumstances that pose a threat to the life and health of people is prosecuted by law.

Article 42

1. Everyone has the right to a favorable environment, reliable information about its condition, and compensation for damage caused to their health or property by environmental violations.
2. Public authorities are obliged to ensure monitoring of the environment and citizens' access to the results of monitoring.

Article 43

1. Everyone has the right to education.
2. Universal access and free education, as well as ideological and religious neutrality, are guaranteed for preschool, primary, secondary vocational education in state or municipal educational institutions and enterprises.
3. Everyone has the right to obtain higher education free of charge on a competitive basis in state or municipal educational institutions
4. Primary general education is mandatory. The state, parents, or persons substituting for them ensure that children receive primary general education.
5. The Russian Federation establishes state basic educational standards, supports various forms of education and self-education.
6. Citizens of the Russian Federation cannot be restricted in creating private educational institutions.
7. The right to self-governance for educational institutions is guaranteed.

Article 44

1. Everyone is guaranteed the freedom of literary, artistic, scientific, technical, and other forms of creativity and teaching. Intellectual property is protected by law.
2. Everyone has the right to access cultural and historical values.
3. Everyone is obliged to take care of the preservation of historical and cultural heritage, protect monuments of history and culture.

Article 45

1. The state guarantees the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens in the Russian Federation.
2. Everyone has the right to defend their rights and freedoms by all means not prohibited by law.

Article 46

1. Everyone is guaranteed judicial protection of their rights and freedoms.
2. Decisions and actions (or inaction) of public authorities, public associations, and officials can be appealed in court.
3. Everyone has the right, in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation, to appeal to intergovernmental bodies for the protection of their rights and freedoms if all available domestic legal remedies have been exhausted.
4. Decisions of national courts of other states, in cases where relevant international agreements have been concluded, are recognized in the Russian Federation on an equal footing with decisions of federal courts.
5. Decisions of intergovernmental courts, for which a decision on their recognition as legislative authority of the Russian Federation has been made, are recognized as final.

Article 47

1. No one shall be deprived of the right to have their case examined by the court and judge to whom it is assigned by law.
2. A person accused of committing a crime, in cases where serious or especially serious crimes are charged against them, has the right to have their case heard by a court with the participation of jurors.

Article 48

1. Everyone is guaranteed the right to receive qualified legal assistance. In cases provided by law, legal assistance is provided free of charge.
2. Every person detained, arrested, suspected, or accused of committing a crime has the right to the assistance of a lawyer (defender). Additionally, after being detained (restricted in freedom of movement), arrested, or charged, they have the right to make a phone call within one hour from the moment they express such a desire.
3. The restriction of the rights of a detained, imprisoned, suspected, or accused person to interact and have confidential communication with their defense attorney is not allowed.

Article 49

1. Everyone accused of a crime shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by law and established by a legally effective court verdict.
2. The accused is not obliged to prove their innocence. Unresolved doubts regarding the guilt of a person shall be interpreted in favor of the accused.

Article 50

1. No one shall be tried again for the same crime.
2. In the administration of justice, the use of evidence obtained in violation of the law is not allowed.
3. Every person convicted of a crime has the right to have their sentence reviewed by a higher court in the manner prescribed by federal law, as well as the right to request pardon or commutation of the punishment

Article 51

1. No one shall be compelled to testify against themselves, their spouse, and close relatives, the circle of which is determined by federal law.
2. The law may establish other cases of exemption from the obligation to provide testimonies.

Article 52

1. The rights of victims of crimes and abuses of power are protected by law. The state ensures that victims have access to justice and compensation for the damage caused.

Article 53

Everyone has the right to adequate compensation from the state for damage caused by unlawful actions (or inaction) of public authorities or their officials.

Article 54

1. A law establishing or aggravating liability shall not have retroactive effect.
2. No one shall be held responsible for an act that was not considered an offense at the time of its commission. If the liability for an offense is eliminated or mitigated after its commission, the new law shall be applied.

Article 55

1. The enumeration in the Constitution of the Russian Federation of the fundamental rights and freedoms shall not be interpreted as a denial or diminishment of other universally recognized human rights and freedoms.
2. The adoption of laws that abolish or diminish the rights and freedoms of individuals is prohibited.
3. The rights and freedoms of individuals may be limited by federal law only to the extent necessary to protect the health, rights, and lawful interests of others, ensure national defense and state security.

Article 56

1. In conditions of emergency to ensure the security of citizens, separate restrictions on rights and freedoms may be established in accordance with the federal constitutional law, indicating the limits and duration of their application.
2. A state of emergency may be declared throughout the territory of the Russian Federation or in its specific regions, in the presence of circumstances and according to the procedure established by federal constitutional law.
3. The rights and freedoms provided for in Articles 20, 21, 23 (part 1), 24, 26, 28, 34 (part 1), 40 (part 1), 46-54 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation shall not be subject to limitation. This means that these rights and freedoms are inviolable and must be protected and ensured for all citizens.

Article 57

1. Everyone is obligated to pay legally established taxes and fees. Laws that establish new taxes or worsen the position of taxpayers have no retroactive effect.

Article 58

1. Everyone is obligated to preserve nature and the environment, to treat natural resources with care.

Article 59

Protecting the Russian Republic and its Constitution is the duty and obligation of a citizen of the Russian Republic. Service in the armed forces of the Russian Republic is voluntary, professional, and based on a contract.

Article 60

1. A citizen of the Russian Republic may independently exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations in full from the age of 18.

Article 61

A citizen of the Russian Republic cannot be expelled beyond its borders or extradited to another state, except in cases of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as other cases provided for by international treaties of the Russian Republic. The Russian Republic guarantees protection and patronage to its citizens outside its borders.

Article 62

1. A citizen of the Russian Republic may have citizenship of a foreign state (dual citizenship) in accordance with the law or an international treaty of the Russian Republic.
2. The possession of citizenship of a foreign state by a citizen of the Russian Republic does not diminish their rights and freedoms and does not exempt them from the obligations arising from Russian citizenship, unless otherwise provided by international treaties of the Russian Republic.
3. Foreign citizens and stateless persons enjoy rights and bear obligations in the Russian Republic on an equal basis with citizens of the Russian Republic, except in cases established by law or international treaties of the Russian Republic.
4. Foreign citizens and stateless persons permanently residing on the territory of the Russian Republic have the right to participate in the elections of municipal authorities.

Article 63

1. The Republic provides political asylum to foreign citizens and stateless persons in accordance with universally recognized norms of international law.
2. The Republic does not extradite individuals to other states who are persecuted for their political beliefs, as well as for actions (or inaction) that are not considered crimes in the Republic. The extradition of individuals accused of committing a crime, as well as the transfer of convicted individuals for serving their sentences in other states, is carried out based on international agreements of the Republic.

Article 64

1. The provisions of this chapter constitute the foundations of the legal status of individuals in the Republic and can only be amended in accordance with the procedures established by this Constitution.
2. The rights of citizens of the Republic who have participated in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as in violent seizure, violent retention of power, and violent alteration of the constitutional order, may be restricted through the process of lustration, the principles and procedures of which are established by law.