MINSK, 15 January (BelTA) – Belarus President signed the new Code on Administrative Offences and the Procedural Law Code for Administrative Offences into law on 14 January. The documents were earlier discussed and supported by MPs, BelTA learned from the Belarus President Administration.
The new codes are aimed at liberalizing administrative responsibility and simplifying the procedure for bringing legal entities and individuals to administrative responsibility. The main novelty of the codes is primarily their preventive and measure.
Amendments to the legislation were prepared following the instruction of the Belarusian president. The novelties were widely discussed by the public and numerous experts were involved in their development, including an interdepartmental expert commission led by Deputy Head of the Belarus President Administration Olga Chupris.
At the meeting on the draft codes in June 2020, the head of state stressed that bans and restrictions should remain only where they are objectively necessary: if there is a risk of harm to the lives and health of citizens, or emergencies.
“Warnings, verbal reprimands and preventive measures for minors are being introduced. There is a gradation of administrative offenses into three categories: administrative misdemeanors, significant and gross administrative offenses,” Director of the National Center of Legislation and Legal Research Vadim Ipatov said earlier.
An estimated 110 current norms are excluded from the administrative code. Sanctions are revised downwards in 230 more. Thus, administrative legislation, taking into account the existing legal relations in administrative responsibility, will correspond to the demands of the population for the prevention of administrative offenses in the first place.
It is expected that the new codes will come into effect on 1 March 2021.
