Preface
The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)1 is honoured to
present this collection of Russian legislation on the security sector and the democratic
oversight of the defence and security sphere – the first in English and the second of a
planned series - to a wider interested public.
The emergence of the concept of security sector reform in the OSCE area suggested the
growing acceptance of a definition of security broader than the traditional definition
focused solely on military security of the state. According to this broader definition,
security has non-military elements as well : the object of security includes not only the
state but also, more widely, individuals and society, as well as, in fact, the security, rights
and obligations of civil servants and (military) servicemen.
Security sector reform also has a very significant emphasis on good governance, an
emphasis encompassing the rule of law, predictable, transparent and open policy-making,
a professional bureaucracy that serves the public good, and a vibrant civil society that
actively engages in public affairs. When applied to the security sector, good governance
would thus mean the effective, efficient, participatory, accountable and transparent
functioning of state institutions that have a monopoly of legitimate use of coercion.
In cooperation with the State Duma Defence Committee, the Geneva Centre set up a
Legal-Political Assistance Group (representing leading constitutional lawyers and
security policy experts from the OSCE area). This Assistance Group supports the
legislative process in the said fields, and brings in expertise from other European and
North American parliaments.
The cooperation agreement entails publication of the relevant laws and ‘law projects’ in
the Russian and English languages, completed with annotations and comments by leading
experts from the Russian Federation and abroad. The Assistance Group further organises
conferences in Russia and abroad, inviting Russian experts to meet their Western
counterparts. The first such cooperation conference took place in Moscow in October
2001.
The present volume is the second out of a planned series (the first volume
[Arbatov/Chernikov eds., Moscow 2002] introduced legislation in the Russian language,
complete with comments by Russian experts). Again DCAF was able to count on the
amiable and competent services of one of its main cooperation partners in Russia, the
Foundation for Democratic Centrism. The documents collected here cover legislation
available before June 30, 2002. A third volume with comments by both Russian and
international experts in both English and Russian will be published by mid-2003. Regular
updates on emerging legislative projects are planned in continuation of this series.
Geneva, January 2003
Philipp Fluri, DDr.
Deputy Director DCAF
1
The Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces was founded in 2000 as a Swiss
initiative with the active cooperation of the Russian Federation (for more ample information see
www.dcaf.ch).