On May 14, High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova participated in the meeting of the State Duma Committee on Issues of Public Associations and Religious Organizations.

The federal ombudswoman together with the Federation Council members presented to members of the committee draft federal law "On General Principles of Organization and Operation of Commissioners for Human Rights in the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation" aimed at the introduction of uniform standards to regulate powers and guarantees of regional commissioners.

The ombudswoman outlined three items that, in her opinion, must be included in the law. They are the right of commissioners to visit state authorities with inspection and to appeal to the prosecutor with a request to double-check the decision that has already entered into force, as well as social guarantees for ombudspersons and their clearly defined legal status.

Tatiana Moskalkova noted that regional commissioners receive a great number of appeals from citizens. According to head of the Committee Sergei Gavrilov, this testifies to the high confidence of the population in the institution of human rights commissioners.

Having considered the bill, the State Duma Committee on Issues of Public Associations and Religious Organizations supported the draft law and recommended the State Duma to adopt the law on first reading, taking into account some comments.