Natural and man-made emergency prevention and response today requires CSTO States’ effort coordination

At a briefing session on September 11, Chairman of the CSTO Collective Security Council and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin demanded to protect the population from man-made emergencies and, in order to achieve it, to analyse the regulatory framework “on the basis of which this work is carried out at all levels. And based on this analysis... to propose such rules of work in this area so that to minimize the emerging man-triggered risks.”
“The task of the state is to protect the population, citizens of our country and the territory of the Russian Federation from such occurrences,” noted Vladimir Putin.
The CSTO Parliamentary Assembly has been developing emergency prevention and response recommendations since 2010.
Since that time, the Parliamentary Assembly of the CSTO has been cooperating with St Petersburg University of State Fire Service of Emercom of the Russian Federation in the development of emergency response recommendations. The university’s experts have developed five legislative recommendations governing emergency prevention and response for the CSTO Member States.
The first were Recommendations on the Harmonization of the Emergency Response Legislation of the CSTO Member States (adopted by the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly resolution No. 5-8 dated 17.05.2012). 
These Recommendations review regulations and the basic concepts, principles and classification of emergency situations, states’ legislative specifics, emergency response financing, procedure for making and using financial and material stockpiles, etc. 
These Recommendations formulated conclusions and proposals regarding common criteria for emergency situations, the consequences of the introduction of the emergency regime, joint emergency response in the CSTO Member States, data exchange, first aid and joint actions in emergency situations, etc.
Between 2012 and 2014, the CSTO PA developed Recommendations on the Harmonization of the CSTO Member States’ Legislation Governing Security of Critical Facilities (adopted by the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly resolution No. 7-5 dated 27.11.2014).
They identified the main problematic issues that need to be addressed: lack of uniform approaches in legislation, conceptual differences and differences in classification of critical objects, competencies and responsibilities of the authorized persons, differences in reporting and response, etc. 
These Recommendations formulated conclusions and proposals concerning the development of unified principles of security of critical facilities and unified legal framework providing for the response to emergencies at critical facilities.
Recommendations on the Harmonization of the CSTO Member States’ Legislation Governing Cross-Border Cooperation in Case of Natural and Man-Made Emergencies (adopted by the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly resolution No. 8-8 dated 26.11.2015).
The Recommendations contain a detailed analysis of international agreements and numerous bilateral treaties of the CSTO Member States in this field, as well as the main types of cross-border cooperation. They also provide the definition of and scientific validation for the principles of cross-border cooperation during an emergency response.
Recommendations on Harmonization of the CSTO Member States’ Legislation Governing Personnel Training and Retraining on Safety in Emergency Situations (adopted by the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly resolution dated 24.11.2016), are based on the analysis of international treaties, regulations, qualification requirements of the CSTO Member States concerning training, educational institutions, fields of study, specialties and qualifications of firefighters and rescuers undergoing training in said institutions; general system of emergency response personnel training and retraining. These Recommendations proposed to the states general approaches to training firefighters and rescuers. 
Recommendations on Harmonization of the CSTO Member States’ Legislation Governing the Activities of Emergency Services and Status of Rescuers (adopted by the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly resolution No. 11-3.4 dated 30.10.2018). 
The Recommendations contain an analysis of the legal framework for the introduction and application of the basic operating principles of emergency rescue services and rescuers; procedure for the establishment and operation of rescue services; possible and/or mandatory participation of rescue services in emergency situation control; rescuers and their status; liability of rescue services and rescuers of the CSTO Member States. The document proposes 16 recommendations concerning the national legal structure of the CSTO Member States in this area, terms and definitions, principles and types of rescue services.
It proposes rescuer categories that are common to all CSTO Member States, rescuer requirements, provisions on the CIS Rescue Force Corps and the CSTO CRRF. These recommendations provide for the potential development of rescue services of the CSTO Member States and the use of new technologies and materials for emergency response. They also contain foresights of new rescuer specialties and their training programmes (the use of artificial intelligence, robots, UAVs, etc.).
St Petersburg University of State Fire Service of Emercom of Russia is currently working on Recommendations for Voluntary Fire Protection. Future plans include the development of Recommendations on Single Emergency Number 112.
Under the guidance of the head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law and Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor Stanislav Nemchenko, the university formed a team of highly respected scholars, including Chair Professor, Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation Nikolai Utkin; Doctor of Juridical Sciences, Honoured Lawyer of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vinokurov; head of the Administrative and Legal Centre Pyotr Cheboksarov and research associate Elizaveta Titova who are directly involved in drafting Recommendations in this field.

Stanislav Nemchenko, Candidate of Juridical Sciences (PhD equivalent), Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law at St Petersburg University of State Fire Service of Emercom of the Russian Federation