The lower house of Russia’s Parliament, the Duma, passed the first reading of a draft law granting “guarantees to the President of the Russian Federation who has terminated the exercise of his powers.” These guarantees are to be extended to the former president’s family members as well.

According to the Explanatory Note to the draft law, it “provides for bringing the provisions of Article 3 of the Federal Law ‘On guarantees to the President of the Russian Federation, who has terminated the exercise of his powers, and members of his family’ in accordance with Article 93 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.”

The draft law will go through two more readings in the Duma and then will pass to the Federation Council, which is the upper house of the Russian Parliament. It will become law once signed by President Vladimir Putin.

The immunity provisions in the draft law protect the former president and his family from police searches, questioning, and confiscation of property. Additionally, they would be protected from prosecution for any crimes which they had committed in their lifetime, with the only exceptions being alleged acts of treason and other grave crimes in exceptional circumstances.

The proposed amendments will update the constitution, which currently only protects a president from prosecution for crimes committed while in office.