MOSCOW, March 26 - RAPSI. The State Duma has adopted amendments in the first reading pursuant to which an administrative arrest will be regulated by a federal law for the first time in Russia.

Courts will order administrative arrests as an administrative punishment only when other measures, such as fines, are insufficient. Fifteen days is a maximum term for an administrative arrest.

The necessity to amend the legislation results from the fact that pursuant to the Russian Constitution human and civil rights and freedoms may be limited only by a federal law.

The draft law stipulates, the legal status of arrested individuals, the terms of their detention, the terms of release and obligations and rights of the detention wards' administrations.