In accordance with the requirements of Federal Law No. 59-FZ “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation,” when filing a complaint with a government agency or department, the applicant must indicate his personal and contact information in order to receive a response about the decision made. This is true both in writing and in person, when the claim is submitted directly at a personal meeting with an official and is recorded in the incoming correspondence log. But, despite the strictness of the law, in a number of cases the population is given the opportunity to anonymously contact higher authorities and regulatory authorities to point out non-compliance with legal norms, report corruption or a crime.
Which complaint is considered anonymous?
Regardless of the method of submitting the document, the citizen must provide certain personal information that will be used for further identification and response. We are talking about the following information:
- last name, first name, patronymic (if any) of the applicant;
- contact phone number (optional, but this will help clarify certain details or nuances of the case if necessary to study the specified circumstances);
- full postal address (including zip code);
- email address (optional).
Attention!
In most cases, a citizen, at his discretion, can leave either a postal or email address. The absence of any personal or contact information indicates the anonymity of the application and is a reason for refusal to accept it. Such a decision may also be made if it turns out that the applicant whose data is contained in the document did not actually apply to the department or institution that received the complaint.
What type of complaint can be filed anonymously?
A citizen has the right to count on studying the stated facts without indicating his personal and contact information when it comes to:
- providing information about an illegal act being prepared, committed or being committed by one or several persons (for example, this can be reported to the prosecutor’s office https://23.xn--b1aew.xn--p1ai/request_main);
- citizens or officials who are attempting or have already committed an illegal act;
- facts of corruption, when the applicant was faced with abuse of official position, a demand to give a bribe, as well as other illegal use by an official of his official position. You can appeal against the actions of an official aimed at obtaining benefits in the form of valuables, money, property and other property services on the website of the Presidential Administration https://letters.kremlin.ru/letters/corruption);
- providing information regarding a committed or impending terrorist act.
- illegal actions of the employer, but in this case the applicant will still have to write his personal information, which will be encrypted by the system.
Anonymous complaint against employer
The Federal Labor Service has launched a service that will allow workers to complain about illegal dismissals and other violations - Electronic Inspector. Moreover, this can be done anonymously. The author of the application indicates his personal data, but it is classified by the service. This is convenient in situations where rights have been violated (illegal dismissal, non-payment of wages, etc.), but the applicant is afraid of a negative reaction to the message or unlawful actions towards himself on the part of the manager.
An appeal can be sent electronically to Rostrud and on the official website, but this cannot be done anonymously. It is important to remember that even when making an anonymous statement, reporting offenses or controversial situations, it is necessary to provide reliable information. Such a complaint does not relieve responsibility for the opinion of the author, and therefore it is not recommended to abuse this opportunity.
Anonymous appeal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are obliged to consider appeals received to them about crimes being prepared or committed. The structure of the appeal is established by clause 21 of the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia “On approval ...” dated September 12, 2013 No. 707. It contains an indication that the appeal must contain the full name. and the citizen’s address means that it will not be possible to submit an anonymous letter.
Reasons for appeal
You need to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs (in other words, the police) if you want to report a crime. There are a great many types of crimes, and we will not list them all - in short, you can file a police report about:
- theft;
- fraud;
- murder;
- causing bodily harm, etc.
How to compose
Depending on where the applicant wants to submit his appeal, this can be done either orally (for example, via a 24-hour helpline) or in writing. In addition, some institutions or government organizations provide the opportunity to complain about the actions of third parties online, if such functionality has been developed on their websites and this does not contradict the requirements of the law.
Written complaint
At his own discretion, a citizen has the right to submit a claim in writing, using one of the possible delivery methods (postal forwarding, fax, etc.). In order for the document to look convincing, it should be compiled in compliance with a number of rules and recommendations, as well as provide additional materials that can be used in studying the situation described.
In the upper right corner of the document, you can not only write the name of the body or institution to which it is addressed, but also indicate a specific official (for example, “district prosecutor”, “plenipotentiary representative of the President of the Russian Federation”, etc.).
Special attention should be paid to the text of the document. Despite the fact that it is submitted anonymously, when compiling it, it is better to adhere to a business style of presentation, clearly describe the facts and avoid emotional and meaningless digressions. If the text of the complaint does not look convincing or contains too little initial data, this may interfere with taking urgent measures or bringing violators to administrative (or criminal) liability.
The text of the document should describe the current situation, indicate the circumstances of what happened (for example, the date and place of the incident), as well as the details of the persons who were direct participants in the conflict.
If possible, additional materials (video recordings, photographs, conclusions, etc.) should be attached to the document, which will indicate the existence of grounds for filing a complaint. And although, on the one hand, it is better not to provide the originals of materials in order to eliminate the possibility of their loss, on the other hand, not all copies can be accepted for consideration, since there may be a suspicion of their falsification. In any case, you should make an inventory of the attached materials, placing it as a separate paragraph in the document.
An anonymous complaint is not signed by the originator or he or she may provide a fictitious name. But after the text it is better to write the date the document was compiled.
Online complaint
In some situations, you can submit an anonymous complaint online, if such an opportunity is presented on the website of the department or organization where the user plans to apply. This service is provided on the websites of individual authorized representatives of the President of the Russian Federation, where it is clearly stated that the stated facts about corruption will be carefully verified even if the applicant does not want to leave his contact information. This indicates that in the proposed online form you can provide fictitious personal information, which will not be considered a basis for refusing to accept it.
When filling out, pay great attention to the text of the message. In view of the fact that a certain limit on the number of characters may be set for the user, he must clearly and accurately describe the current situation, the circumstances of the incident and its participants. What information is provided in the text of the message largely determines whether it will be accepted for consideration and what decision will subsequently be made. It is important to remember that the user does not leave his contact information, so the official reviewing the application will not have the opportunity to obtain additional information to objectively study the situation.
If the site uses functionality that allows you to attach electronic files to the form to confirm the described facts, then if such documents are available, the user should not refuse to provide additional materials. If this option is not available or the file is of such a format that it cannot be attached to an electronic form, then you can send additional materials by mail, indicating in the letter the number at which the online claim was registered (such information will be provided immediately after sending the message).
Expert opinion
When a person applies for a service that is provided to him within the framework of the law or in return for an additional fee, he certainly expects a positive result and quality service. It is when this chain is broken that a person thinks about a complaint, which, in his opinion, can resolve all the omissions and conflicts that have arisen.
This is true, but not all citizens can openly express their opinion, so they resort to an anonymous complaint. There is nothing like that here, the citizen is simply afraid of the consequences that may arise after writing a complaint. Just before sending a complaint, you should make sure whether it will be considered by this body if it does not have contact information.
Sometimes anonymous requests are made not only by adults, but also by children who need help, in which case it costs us a lot of effort to find the author and provide qualified assistance. Therefore, I would like to say that there is no need to be afraid of the consequences, since this is punishable from the side that will exercise influence on the author.
Russian statesman and public figure, human rights activist. Commissioner for Children's Rights Anna Yurievna Kuznetsova
Common mistakes
Mistake No. 1: Silence of violation of the law by a certain person or government body.
Comment: Unfortunately, this is one of the common mistakes that in one way or another affect your future fate. Let's consider an example that almost every person has encountered, but some were silent, while others prevented it. The basis is a bribe, especially if it concerns public sector specialists such as police officers, health care and education. A person takes a bribe for services and then continues to work, where he takes bribes in larger quantities and so on higher and higher, until there is a caring person who will write a complaint and management will take certain measures against this specialist.
Procedure for consideration
The current law determines the specifics of studying and verifying requests from citizens who did not want to leave their personal and contact information, which can be used to provide answers.
An anonymous complaint about an offense cannot be considered a basis for initiating an administrative or criminal case. But at the same time, all the stated facts are subject to careful verification to establish the absence or presence of elements of a crime. In this regard, if a report has been received about a completed, ongoing or planned illegal act, such a statement must be sent to law enforcement agencies, which are obliged to verify the received facts.
In accordance with the Instructions on organizing the consideration of appeals, adopted in 2013, responses to claims that do not contain the personal data of the applicants and details for sending reports on decisions made (postal or email addresses) are not provided. Based on a written decision of the head of the security agency, manager or other authorized person, such a message is recognized as anonymous, but is still subject to registration, recording and subsequent verification. At the same time, they are registered as “other information” about events and crimes that threaten public and personal safety, and are checked by the operational unit of the institution’s security agency.
Based on the results of checking the stated facts, a decision can be made:
- refusal to initiate a criminal case (in this case, the inspection materials are formed into separate files and stored for 5 years);
- to initiate a criminal case;
- about transmitting a report of a crime to court;
- on the transmission of a report of a crime under investigative jurisdiction.
The period for consideration of an anonymous complaint should not exceed 30 days. But it can be extended for another 30 days if the initial period allotted by law was not enough to study the facts provided.
Attention! Due to the fact that contact information is not indicated in such an application, the applicant should not count on receiving a response based on the results of the consideration of the case.
Common Questions
Question No. 1: Is it possible to anonymously send a complaint to any authorities?
Answer: Unfortunately, no, only a narrow circle of authorities have the right to consider an anonymous complaint and only on specific issues. For example, you can contact the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation anonymously, but for this the complaint must concern the issue of corruption or a future incident. In other matters, the prosecutor's office will not accept anonymous requests.
Question No. 2 : What will happen to the complaint that is written on emotions and is not supported by evidence?
Answer: It is worth remembering one important rule - if you are going to write a complaint, you must have one or more evidence. Otherwise, you should not write it, since you may not punish your opponent, but you yourself may end up under the article of slander. Evidence can be: photographs, recordings of conversations and videos, testimony of witnesses, messages, things, etc. If there is evidence, but for some reason it was not attached to the complaint, then after returning the complaint it should be sent again and with evidence.
The legislative framework
When drawing up an anonymous complaint, you should rely on the following legislative acts:
- Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation” No. 59-FZ dated May 2, 2006.
- Federal Law “On the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation” dated January 17, 1992 N 2202-1-FZ (as amended on August 10, 2017).
- Federal Law “On Police” dated 02/07/2011 N 3-FZ (as amended on 07/29/2017).
- Federal Law “On Combating Terrorism” dated March 6, 2006 N 35-FZ (as amended on July 6, 2016).
- Instructions on the organization of consideration of appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation in the bodies of the Federal Security Service (approved by Order of the FSB of Russia dated August 30, 2013 N 463).
