On 1 April, the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation adopted the Federal Constitutional Law On the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and the Federal Law On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation to Improve the Work of Human Rights Commissioners.

Previously, on 27 March, in the third reading, the State Duma adopted amendments which significantly extend powers of the federal and regional human rights commissioners, guarantee their independence, and are to ensure a unified order of implementation and protection of rights and freedoms in the country. The changes improve the order according to which the commissioners interact with state authorities and officials. In the upper chamber of the Federal Assembly the law was presented by the deputy chair of the Federation Council Committee for the Constitutional Legislation and State-Building Lyudmila Bokova.

The MPs have also adopted the Federal Law On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation to Improve the Work of Human Rights Commissioners, which specifies the status of the human rights commissioner in a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. The amendments are to be introduced to the Federal Law On Agencies and Bodies Executing Penal Sanctions in the Form of Deprivation of Liberty, the Criminal Penitentiary Code of Russia, the Federal Law On General Principles Governing the Organisation of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies of State Power in the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation, and the Federal Law On Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation.