The State Duma finalized the bill of the Supreme Court on the decriminalization of a number of crimes of small and moderate. The number of acts affected by liberalization has been reduced from four to three. At the same time, before the second reading, a norm appeared in the draft, according to which the terms of detention pending trial will be calculated according to new formula. These amendments were supported yesterday by the Duma Committee on Criminal Legislation. The CPRF faction opposes the bill as a whole.
The Duma Committee on Criminal Legislation finalized the bill of the Supreme Court (SC) for the second reading (adopted in the first reading on February 26) and yesterday recommended the State Duma to adopt it. Recall that the Supreme Court proposed to decriminalize four criminal offenses of minor and moderate severity (beating, the threat of murder, malicious evasion of alimony, the use of knowingly forged documents) - but only if they were committed for the first time, and the offender compensated for the damage or "otherwise made amends for the harm caused by the crime" . As punishment for these crimes, it was proposed to introduce a fine, a ban on holding office, as well as compulsory or corrective labor.
The Committee on Criminal Law decided for the first time offenders to confine themselves to the introduction of a judicial fine. In case of non-payment within the period established by the court, the offender will be held criminally liable. "This rule makes life easier for those who will apply the law," said Yury Sinelshchikov, a committee member from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. In his opinion, it makes sense to introduce differentiated punishment for "serious crimes" - when it is more difficult to assess the measure of responsibility.
In February 2016, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with judges, said that the liberalization of legislation should only apply to those who committed a crime "for the first and only time, and a repeated similar offense should already lead to criminal liability." According to the president, a certain part of the offenders, starting small, can again break the law, but "because of possible individual cases" the majority should not "suffer". "People who have stumbled should be given a chance to remain in a healthy part of society and not be subjected to criminal prosecution," he said (see Kommersant of February 17).
Having made indulgences for those who violated the law for the first time, the relevant Duma committee decided to reduce the number of decriminalized articles - the threat of murder (Article 119) will return to the Criminal Code. “We asked science and criminologists for statistics, and it turned out that the presence of this article in the Criminal Code deters the commission of murders,” Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the committee, explained to Kommersant. Yuri Sinelshchikov also supported the criminal punishment for this act: "This article is a toothache for the people. Repeat offenders grow out of such trifles."
Also, for the second reading, the bill was supplemented with a norm according to which the terms of detention pending trial will be calculated according to a new formula. The author of the amendment was Mr. Krasheninnikov. He suggested that one day in a pre-trial detention center should be counted as a day and a half in penal colony general regime and an educational colony and in two days - in a colony-settlement (now the rule is day for day). In addition, it is proposed to equate two days of house arrest to one day of imprisonment. The bill containing these innovations (with the exception of house arrest) was submitted to the State Duma by Mr. Krasheninnikov back in 2008, the deputies supported it in the first reading in February 2015, after which it again hung in the committee. Yesterday the members of the committee supported the amendment. The communist Sinelshchikov says that it is "necessary" to change the calculation of the terms of pre-trial detention - "the regime of the SIZO differs significantly from the general regime colony": "The ratio of days - one and a half or two - is not so important. The main thing is that the new principle be adopted."
But in general, according to the deputy, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation does not support the bill. “The very idea of holding criminal liability for a repeated act is disgusting in it. After the first offense, the district police officer, who most often does not even have a legal education, will draw up a protocol on an administrative offense,” he explained to Kommersant. “And after the act is committed the second time, a criminal case will be opened, it will be based on the very protocol of the district police officer, it is not clear how drawn up, because no investigation was carried out then. flagrant violations rule of law and democracy". The State Duma will consider the bill in the second reading on June 7. In the third reading, it must be considered before the end of the spring session.
State Duma deputies adopted in the second and main reading a package of draft laws of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation aimed at decriminalizing a number of articles of criminal law, reports agency "Moscow" .
When considering the bills in the second reading, the deputies, in particular, supported an amendment excluding from the initial version of the package of documents the provisions on decriminalization of the use of knowingly forged documents, as well as on the threat of murder or infliction grievous harm health.
The bills propose to release from criminal liability those who have committed crimes of small or medium gravity for the first time, but only in case of compensation for damage. At the same time, a new measure is introduced for such persons - they will be imposed a judicial fine. Failure to pay it on time will result in the cancellation of this sanction and bringing the person to criminal liability.
The bills also propose to decriminalize such one-time crimes as battery (if the result was not harmed to health), petty theft and non-payment of alimony for children or disabled parents. At the same time, it is proposed to establish criminal liability for the commission of these actions by a person subjected to administrative punishment for similar acts. Thus, for these offenses administrative liability will be provided instead of criminal.
Thus, for beatings or other violent acts, a fine of 5,000 to 30,000 rubles is established. or administrative arrest from 10 to 15 days or compulsory labor for a period of 60 to 120 hours. For petty theft in an amount that does not exceed 1 thousand rubles, it is proposed to fine up to five times the value of the stolen property, but in an amount not less than 1 thousand rubles. In addition, for such theft, an administrative arrest of up to 15 days or compulsory work up to 50 hours is provided. For petty theft of property, the value of which is more than 1 thousand rubles, but does not exceed 2.5 thousand rubles, a fine is established in the amount of up to five times the value of the stolen property, but not less than 3 thousand rubles. It is also possible administrative arrest for a period of 10 to 15 days or compulsory work up to 120 hours.
For non-payment by a parent or an adult able-bodied child of alimony without good reason in violation of a court decision within two or more months from the date of initiation of enforcement proceedings, administrative punishment is provided in the form of compulsory work for up to 150 hours or arrest from 10 to 15 days. If, however, a punishment in the form of compulsory work or administrative arrest cannot be applied to the violator, then a fine of 20 thousand rubles is provided for the non-payer of alimony.
Also, bills increase from 2.5 thousand to 5 thousand rubles. the lower limit of significant damage caused to a citizen as a result of a number of crimes against property, including theft, fraud and robbery. In addition, the victim and the accused of repeated beatings or petty theft, as well as deliberate infliction of minor bodily harm that caused a short-term health disorder or a slight permanent loss of general ability to work, are allowed to reconcile up to the removal of the court of appeal to the deliberation room for a decision. Reconciliation can become the basis for the termination of a criminal case.
According to the explanatory note to the document, a significant part of the convicts in Russia were found guilty of committing minor crimes, but often these people do not pose a sufficient degree of danger to society. The decriminalization of a number of articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the liberalization of criminal legislation and the expansion of grounds for exemption from criminal liability may be a way out of this situation, the authors of the bill believe.
The Duma approved in the second reading the initiative of the Supreme Court on the decriminalization of non-serious articles of the Criminal Code, which promised the release of up to 140 thousand people. There will be no new amnesty: in the adopted version, most of the ideas of the Armed Forces are rejected
Photo: Dmitry Dukhanin/Kommersant
On Tuesday, the State Duma adopted in the second reading a bill on the decriminalization of petty crimes. Of the five compositions that the Supreme Court proposed to transfer from criminal acts to administrative ones, only three remained in the latest version of the draft. But the deputies also significantly corrected their wording.
Lattice for the poor
The bill of the Supreme Court to transfer from criminal offenses to administrative five compositions of the Criminal Code: battery, threat of murder, evasion of payment of alimony, petty theft (up to 5 thousand rubles) and forgery of documents (Articles 116, 119, 157, 159 and 327 of the Criminal Code ). Criminal liability for these violations, according to the authors of the project, should only be for their repeated commission.
The authors explained the need to change the legislation in the explanatory note by the fact that the number of petty crimes is growing every year and by 2014 the number of sentences in such cases reached 46% of the total. The decriminalization of five offenses, according to the estimates of the developers, would reduce the number of convicts by 120-140 thousand people a year.
Every year, the courts find 200 thousand people guilty of theft, according to the official statistics of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court, this is the most common crime. But almost a third of those convicted under this article, 60 thousand people in 2014, committed petty theft, it followed from explanatory note(the amount was not specified).
The authors of the project proposed establishing criminal liability for theft from 5 thousand rubles, and not from 1 thousand, as it is now. And those who committed theft for a smaller amount should only be brought to administrative responsibility. Criminal punishment, according to the authors, should be imposed if petty theft (up to 5 thousand rubles) is committed again.
As a result, the State Duma deputies agreed that repeated petty theft, which in terms of amount does not fall under the Criminal Code, should be criminalized. But they considered that it was possible to increase the amount of petty theft only up to 2.5 thousand rubles, and not up to 5 thousand rubles, as the Supreme Court insisted.
Since 2008, when the bar was set at 1,000 rubles, prices have increased several times, lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov points out. “This is an increase in the amount to 2.5 thousand rubles. will not even cover the growth of inflation,” the lawyer says. - For such amounts, as a rule, the poor commit theft. They need to be fed, not planted."
Beating with clarification
The State Duma agreed to decriminalize the article “beatings” (transferring it to the Administrative Code), but only if this crime was committed for the first time, not against close relatives and not out of hooligan motives.
Now the Criminal Code defines beatings as the commission of violent acts that caused physical pain, but did not cause harm to health. The law considers the commission of crimes for hooligan motives or motivated by political, national or religious hatred as aggravating circumstances.
The concept of “close relatives” was not introduced in the original text of the bill. In the new amendments, not only all blood and half relatives fall under it, but also those who have a common household with the accused.
According to Zherebenkov, the innovation in this form will not work, since the concept of “beatings” refers precisely to the situation regarding a fight in the family, among brothers-in-law.
“I am against decriminalization of this composition, says lawyer Yuri Elmashev. — And now the police often refuse to initiate cases of beatings, but people themselves go to court, where they initiate a case as a private accusation”.
In 2015, 19.6 thousand people were convicted of beatings, of which only 357 people were sentenced to imprisonment, according to the statistics of the Judicial Department. In 2014, 24,000 people were convicted for beatings.
Jail for threats
The deputies agreed that it is necessary to amend the article "evasion of payment of alimony." Instead of the sign of "malicious evasion", it is now proposed to judge under this article only those who have already been brought to administrative responsibility for non-payment of alimony.
The other two elements - a threat to kill and forgery of documents - will remain unchanged in the Criminal Code. “We collected data and realized that the article “threat to kill” performs a protective function and should be left in the Criminal Code,” Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the relevant State Duma committee on legislation, told RBC.
Previously, the decriminalization of "threats to kill" was advocated by the government. The agency insisted that this could lead to an increase in actual homicides. Under the same article, 30,000 people are brought to justice every year.
“Those who are planning a murder are unlikely to speak openly about it. It rarely happens that a person first threatened for a long time, and then took and killed, ”Andrey Suchkov, vice president of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers, does not agree with this position.
The latest version of the bill actually emasculates the entire initiative of the Supreme Court, says RBC's source in the judicial community. According to him, the reason for the sharp editing of the initiative of the Armed Forces was dissatisfaction with the project of law enforcement agencies. “It is convenient to make statistics on petty crimes, to receive budgets for the penitentiary departments that monitor the serving of sentences. Few people care about the fate of people, ”says the source of the agency. "Speech is not goes already about the release of hundreds of thousands of people, ”complains the interlocutor of RBC.
“Such amendments are beneficial for the security forces who have a cane system — it’s better for them to show the resolution of petty crimes, to establish who forged the sick leave or who beat whom, than to engage in a real fight against crime,” Zherebenkov agrees.
A day in jail
Krasheninnikov also proposed amendments to the bill that would allow for a new calculation of the terms of pre-trial detention: one day in a detention center is proposed to be counted as two in a colony-settlement and one and a half in a general regime colony. And a day spent under house arrest was equivalent to half a day in the isolation ward. These proposals were supported by the profile committee, but on the eve of the second reading they disappeared from the package of changes. Krasheninnikov told RBC that this happened under pressure from the government. But he is ready to continue defending the idea already in the new Duma in the fall, if he is re-elected, the deputy said.
