Russia: Information on whether jumping ship is a treasonous crime and, if so, the penalties that may be applied
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 December 1992 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RUS12489.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Russia: Information on whether jumping ship is a treasonous crime and, if so, the penalties that may be applied, 1 December 1992, RUS12489.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acf278.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information specifically referring to the requested subject could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB. However, the following information may be of some interest.
Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republik (1960) provides that "flight abroad or the refusal to return to the USSR from abroad" constitutes high treason and "shall be punishable by deprivation of freedom for a term of from ten to fifteen years with confiscation of property and without exile for a term from two to five years, or by the death penalty with confiscation of property." (RSFSR Criminal Code 1990, 49).
Article 83 of the Criminal Code provides that illegal exit abroad or crossing the border without the requisite passport or permission shall be punishable by deprivation of freedom for a term of one to three years (Ibid., 55).
According to a professor at Carleton University's Research Centre for Canada and Soviet Successor States, a report in Rossiyskava Gazeta says that as of August 1992 Russia a has been passing laws on additions to the 1960 RSFSR Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code (17 Dec. 1992).
Information as to whether the old Soviet Criminal Code is being enforced, however, is currently not available to the DIRB but a consular officer of the Russian Embassy suggested that each case is decided individually on its own merits (10 December 1992).
A professor specializing in Soviet Law corroborated that the punishments for illegal exit are no longer in force in Russia because they are contrary to Covenants on Human Rights adopted by Russia (18 Dec. 1992).
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russian government officials have said that the Union's practices with regard to exit and entry are being observed in Russia (Country Reports 1991 1992, 1281).
On 20 May, 1991 the Soviet government had passed a new law on the procedure for Soviet citizens to exit and enter the USSR. This law recognized for the first time in domestic Soviet law the right of citizens to enter and leave the country and was scheduled to be fully implemented on 1 January 1993 (Country Reports 1991 1992, 1281). Further information on the current status of this law in Russia is not available to the DIRB.
References
Country reports on Human Rights Practices for 1991. 1992. U.S. Department of State. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office.
Embassy of Russia, Ottawa. 11 December 1992. Telephone Interview with Consular Officer.
Professor with the Research Centre for Canada and Soviet Successor States, Carleton University, Ottawa. 17 December 1992. Telephone Interview.
Professor of Soviet Law at Rutgers University, Trenton, N.J. 18 December 1992. Telephone Interview.
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republik (RSFSR). Ministry of Justice. 1990. The Criminal Code of then Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic With Amendments and Addenda to May 5, 1990. Moscow: "Legal Literature" (translated by the Secretary of State, Ottawa).
