MINSK, 2 April (BelTA) - The bill on Amending Codes on Administrative Liability was approved at a meeting of the fourth session of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus of the eighth convocation on 2 April, BelTA has learned.
“As part of the bill’s preparation, over 500 proposals from relevant government agencies, totaling more than 1,000 pages, were reviewed, and numerous working group meetings and conciliation sessions were held. The result is a fairly concise yet highly substantive draft law. In total, 9 new articles and 43 new types of administrative offenses have been introduced into the Administrative Code. Additionally, 73 amendments have been made to the provisions of existing offenses to align them with sector-specific legislation. Furthermore, 32 sanctions for offenses have been adjusted to ensure that penalties are proportionate to the nature and severity of the violation committed,” said Andrei Matelsky, Director of the National Center for Legislation and Legal Information.
To enhance the preventive focus, the circumstances that exclude liability, provided that violations are promptly remedied and harmful consequences are prevented, are being expanded. “In particular, liability is excluded for non-payment of taxes and other mandatory payments to the budget in an amount not exceeding 40 base units (if the resulting arrears are eliminated within 10 days after the inspection report is served), for violations of public procurement legislation (provided they are remedied after receiving an order from a state body), and for providing false information in a statistical declaration (if the relevant corrections are made to the declaration before proceedings begin). Additionally, a new universal rule is being introduced that applies to any offenses committed by business entities. This rule will allow a legal entity to be exempted from administrative liability if it prevents the harmful consequences of the offense it committed. It should be noted that the opportunity to correct mistakes without being held liable has a favorable impact on the conditions for conducting economic activities and encourages business entities to immediately remedy any violations they have committed,” said the director of the National Center for Legislation and Legal Information. 
The preventive mechanism of educational measures for juvenile offenders is also being improved. “To further develop this mechanism, it is proposed to supplement the Procedural and Executive Code on Administrative Offenses with a new special section. This section systematically establishes the general and specific aspects of applying educational measures, and defines the timeframes and methods for implementing such measures,” Andrei Matelsky emphasized.
“As part of the bill’s preparation, over 500 proposals from relevant government agencies, totaling more than 1,000 pages, were reviewed, and numerous working group meetings and conciliation sessions were held. The result is a fairly concise yet highly substantive draft law. In total, 9 new articles and 43 new types of administrative offenses have been introduced into the Administrative Code. Additionally, 73 amendments have been made to the provisions of existing offenses to align them with sector-specific legislation. Furthermore, 32 sanctions for offenses have been adjusted to ensure that penalties are proportionate to the nature and severity of the violation committed,” said Andrei Matelsky, Director of the National Center for Legislation and Legal Information.
He also noted that the bill provides for the introduction of liability for the promotion of homosexual relationships, sex change, childlessness, and pedophilia. “Liability has also been introduced for violating the procedure for identifying and tracing animal-derived products. In addition, the possibility has been provided for suspending the enforcement of a penalty in the form of deprivation of the right to drive a vehicle, as well as for releasing an individual from the unserved portion of such a penalty. The Administrative Code is supplemented with new provisions establishing liability for violating the procedure for acquiring official and special passenger cars, violating requirements for mobile network coverage and the quality of such services, conducting prohibited transactions and operations with digital tokens, illegally representing the Republic of Belarus at international events, and violating the procedure for controlling the spread of certain types of invasive plants,” Andrei Matelsky said.
To enhance the preventive focus, the circumstances that exclude liability, provided that violations are promptly remedied and harmful consequences are prevented, are being expanded. “In particular, liability is excluded for non-payment of taxes and other mandatory payments to the budget in an amount not exceeding 40 base units (if the resulting arrears are eliminated within 10 days after the inspection report is served), for violations of public procurement legislation (provided they are remedied after receiving an order from a state body), and for providing false information in a statistical declaration (if the relevant corrections are made to the declaration before proceedings begin). Additionally, a new universal rule is being introduced that applies to any offenses committed by business entities. This rule will allow a legal entity to be exempted from administrative liability if it prevents the harmful consequences of the offense it committed. It should be noted that the opportunity to correct mistakes without being held liable has a favorable impact on the conditions for conducting economic activities and encourages business entities to immediately remedy any violations they have committed,” said the director of the National Center for Legislation and Legal Information. The preventive mechanism of educational measures for juvenile offenders is also being improved. “To further develop this mechanism, it is proposed to supplement the Procedural and Executive Code on Administrative Offenses with a new special section. This section systematically establishes the general and specific aspects of applying educational measures, and defines the timeframes and methods for implementing such measures,” Andrei Matelsky emphasized.
To increase the efficiency of the process, the bill provides for the further development of expedited procedures. A number of other innovations are also envisaged.
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