The full title of the scientific note that recently caught my eye and was read is: “Actions of the local police commissioner to prevent and suppress offenses encroaching on the cultural heritage of the Russian Federation”
I will provide a link to the original source at the end of the note, but for now, in the note itself I want to briefly retell this simple scientific, dare I say it, work. And, I will also give my comments and additions.
The first thing you need to understand? Non-scientific publications of this kind are written either according to the direction of the scientific supervisor, or as an independent choice of the author from the proposed topics. And yet, even on the basis of such material, you can learn a lot of useful things to improve your own legal and legal literacy.
The first thing that the authors of the note complain about is that the law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation are not adequately dealing with the problem of supervision and protection of cultural heritage sites of the Russian Federation. There is a regulatory framework for suppressing the activities of “black diggers”, but there is no initiative on the part of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
And here, one could blame the authors of the note for ignorance of the basics of the legislative and legal framework. Since, according to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 30, 2021 N 1093 “On federal state control (supervision) over the condition, maintenance, preservation, use, popularization and state protection of cultural heritage objects”
The functions and responsibilities for state protection of cultural heritage sites are assigned to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
We will examine this topic in detail in one of the upcoming posts on our blog, but for now let’s move on to the essence of this note.
And so, in a scientific publication, the authors acknowledge the fact that a local police officer, when identifying citizens in the area with a metal detector and a shovel, can suppress this activity only if he is fully confident and informed that there is an archaeological site in this territory .
From here we can draw a logical conclusion. If there are no protected zones of an archaeological site in a field or forest, the actions of a citizen with a shovel and a metal detector are not a crime.
Also, the scientific note clearly states that the consideration and suppression of offenses under articles related to illegal archaeological activities, the circulation of archaeological objects, as well as the destruction or damage of archaeological objects “does not fall within the substantive competence of the district commissioner”
And then we draw our own conclusions…
Note: If you, during the period of instrument search outside the boundaries of the protected zones of archaeological heritage, have to communicate with the local district police officer, you must know and understand that any testimony given by you before the initiation of an administrative or criminal case cannot be used in the future as proof of your guilt.
I would like to note that I am not a professional lawyer, which is why the material in this note is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to promote avoidance and evasion of criminal or administrative liability.
Link to the note in the original source: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/deystviya-uchastkovogo-upolnomochennogo-politsii-po-preduprezhdeniyu-i-presecheniyu-pravonarusheniy-posyagayuschih-na-obekty/viewer