10 December, Vitebsk /Sergey Kochetov - BELTA/. The Prosecutor General's Office has developed a concept for improving criminal liability measures. This was announced today by Prosecutor General of Belarus Grigory Vasilievich at the international scientific and practical conference "Legal Culture as a Condition for the Formation of a State Governed by the Rule of Law" in Vitebsk, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. According to Grigory Vasilievich, the document will help guide legislators, courts, prosecutors, and other law enforcement agencies in optimising liability measures that take into account the interests of both the state and society, as well as the interests of an individual who has erred and needs a chance to rectify the situation. "The approach to punishment must be differentiated and individualised, therefore it is necessary to find the most optimal course of action in terms of sentencing," the Prosecutor General noted. In the overall structure of punishments, imprisonment accounts for about 25%, and arrest for a term of 3 to 6 months accounts for another 10%. According to Grigory Vasilievich's assessment, this is a small figure, but at the same time, the need has arisen to make certain adjustments to optimise the imposed terms of imprisonment. The frequent adoption of amnesty laws indicates that the terms are not optimal, although this is a very important gesture on the part of the state aimed at solving specific problems. "First of all, we are talking about economic crimes, where a wider application of punishments such as fines and community service, which, in my opinion, are more effective, is possible," believes Grigory Vasilievich. Recently, the Prosecutor General's Office has been making significant efforts to improve legislation. "Although this is not within our remit and we do not have the right of legislative initiative, the optimisation and enhancement of the effectiveness of the national legal system is a nationwide task," added Grigory Vasilievich.-0-

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