Drafts of the Code of Administrative Offences and the Code of Administrative Procedure have been submitted for public discussion

18/05/20200 views

Drafts of the Code of Administrative Offences and the Procedural-Executive Code of Administrative Offences have been submitted for public discussion. Your comments and suggestions can be expressed in a dedicated thread on the Legal Forum of Belarus from May 18 to May 27. This information is posted on the National Legal Internet Portal, according to BELTA.

The structure of the Code of Administrative Offences has been adjusted. The authors of the draft have introduced a categorization of offences depending on the degree of public harm and the severity of consequences. Administrative penalties have been systematically reviewed and differentiated. An institute of preventive measures of influence has been introduced, the list of grounds for exemption from administrative liability has been expanded, and the range of acts entailing it only at the request of the victim has been broadened.

In addition, legal institutes that are inherently characteristic of criminal, rather than administrative tort law (complicity in an offence, attempted offence), have been excluded from the draft Code of Administrative Offences. The time limits for imposing administrative penalties have been regulated, and the conditions for administrative liability of business entities have been simplified and clearly structured. Economic incentives for prompt payment of fines have been established.

As for the draft Procedural-Executive Code of Administrative Offences, the structure of the code has also been adjusted, including with the aim of defining the rules of administrative proceedings in an expedited manner in a separate chapter. The developers have determined the range of state bodies and organizations empowered to draw up protocols and consider cases of administrative offences. The procedure for appealing the actions and decisions of a judge or an official of a body conducting administrative proceedings, not related to the final decision in the case, has been clarified. The draft takes into account the proposals received from interested parties.

The drafts of the Code of Administrative Offences and the Procedural-Executive Code of Administrative Offences are harmonised with each other. Both codes have been revised and unified in such a way as to facilitate their understanding.

The organiser of the public discussion is the National Centre for Legislation and Legal Research.

As previously reported, by Decree of the President of Belarus No. 247rp dated December 17, 2019, an interdepartmental expert commission was established to prepare comprehensive proposals for amending the Code of Administrative Offences. The commission includes employees of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, the Prosecutor General's Office, the State Control Committee, the Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, Taxes and Duties, and other departments, as well as representatives of the parliament and the scientific community. The commission is headed by Olga Chupris, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration.