MINSK, 18 March (BelTA) - The draft law on amendments to the Belarusian Codes on Criminal Responsibility aims to continue systemic modernization of relations in this area. The document was discussed, among others, at a meeting hosted by the Belarusian president on 18 March, BelTA learned from the President Administration.
The draft law fine-tunes the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code. For example, it clarifies the terms, under which the use of force in self-defense shall not be seen as excessive (if a person could not objectively assess the danger due to the expected nature of an attack).
The draft clarifies the rules of sentence assignment. It suggests a more differentiated approach to the appointment of a fine (depending on the specific circumstances of a crime committed and the identity of an offender), and the possibility of paying a fine in installments for up to 5 years or deferring its payment for up to 1 year.
The document also clarifies the rules of punishment for evading a criminal penalty. The draft suggests replacing it with a more severe punishment. For example, failure to pay a fine shall entail an arrest or restriction of freedom, restriction of freedom – imprisonment. At the same time, courts will assign such a replacement without initiating a criminal case and involving the entire criminal procedure system. A similar mechanism had previously been enacted in the 1961 Penal Code.
Ten articles and 24 counts shall be dropped. Among them are those that are of a formalistic nature (for example, violation of the rules guiding the safety of treatment of genetically engineered organisms, which do not cause harm to human health and the environment, shall entail only administrative responsibility); those that can be addressed by other measures (for example, harm caused to the environment as a result of violations of water use rules, rules of protection of fish and other aquatic species can be reimbursed according to the established rates); those that are inherently non-grave and provide for administrative pre-judgement.
A number of articles (coercion, fraud and other crimes against property and economic activity) shall provide for the restriction of freedom as an alternative to imprisonment (in particular, for coercion to make a transaction, fraud). As a result, courts will be more flexible in assigning punishment.
The amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedures suggest wider use of information technology in criminal proceedings, for example, a web conference mode for some investigative actions (interrogation, lineup and submission for identification) , which will minimize the psychological burden on those involved in these activities and which will contribute to the compliance with the health safety recommendations amid coronavirus.
