State regulation of activities of foreign agents in the Russian Federation: Evolution of the industry law in 2012–2022

Abstract

The regulation of foreign agents’ activities as part of ensuring the security of Russian sovereignty, the constitutional order and national interests from the foreign influence is one of the key directions of the development of Russian politics and society nowadays. The actuality of this problem is driven by the presence of internal and external threats. The article presents the prerequisites for the adoption of regulation regarding foreign agents’ activities in the Russian Federation. The need for regulatory unification in 2022, caused by the presence of relevant regulation regarding foreign agents’ activities in difference law sources for ten years, is described in the article; as a result, various types of these entities have become standardized within the framework of the modern political process, ensuring the most effective government control. In addition, the main regulatory mechanisms regarding foreign agents’ activities in different countries have been analyzed. On the basis of this work the comparative analysis of regulatory measures concerning foreign agents in Russia and other countries has been carried out. Great attention was paid to articles of domestic and foreign authors, explaining the emergence of such a phenomenon as foreign agents. The dynamics of the inclusion of foreign agents has been analyzed. The author finds that the legislative reform, carried out in 2022, equalizing foreign agents in terms of the requirements, eliminated the legal and management gaps. The results, presented in the article, allow to draw the conclusions concerning the current situation of foreign agents in the Russian Federation.