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ALPEYEVA AND DZHALAGONIYA v. RUSSIA JUDGMENT
check must be informed of the results of the check. A person whose Russian
citizenship is confirmed is then issued with the relevant document.
(f) The 2004 Regulation on the FMS
69. Section 1 of the Regulation on the Federal Migration Service,
adopted by Presidential Decree no. 928 of 19 July 2004 (“the
2004 Regulation on the FMS”) and in force until 15 January 2013, provided
that the FMS exercised control and supervision in the field of migration.
Under section 7.13.2, the FMS was competent to determine whether
individuals residing in Russia had Russian citizenship. Under section
7.13.11, it was competent to issue and exchange identity documents.
(g) The 2001 Code of Administrative Offences
70. Under Article 19.15 § 1 of the Code, failure to possess a valid
identity document is punishable by a fine.
2. Judicial practice
71. In decision no. GKPI 06-337 of 6 June 2006 the Supreme Court
stated “a passport confirms citizenship of the Russian Federation, which
does not arise out of this document, but on the basis of and in accordance
with the procedure provided for by the federal law and other [applicable]
laws and regulations”.
72. In decision no. KAS 06-300 of 17 August 2006 the Appeals Division
of the Supreme Court stated “[a] passport constitutes a document
confirming citizenship of the Russian Federation only if it is issued by a
competent State agency in the official form in accordance with the
[applicable] procedure. A passport that does not meet these requirements
may not be considered a [valid] document, nor will it confirm the [holder’s]
citizenship of the Russian Federation”. It also noted that “the rules on the
seizure of unduly issued passports that do not constitute a document
confirming citizenship of the Russian Federation do not affect the rights and
freedoms of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the Russian
Federation”.
3. The Ombudsman’s reports
(a) The Ombudsman’s Special Report 2007
73. On 6 December 2007 the Ombudsman issued a “Special Report on
the practice of seizing Russian passports from former citizens of the USSR
who had moved to the Russian Federation from CIS countries”, which was
published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta on 26 January 2008. In that report, he
criticised the administrative practice of seizing Russian passports from
former citizens of the Soviet Union born outside Russia who had received