Analytics Publications

17
June
2020

Code at a discount. The draft Procedural Administrative Code submitted by the Ministry of Justice

Source Kommersant


Stanislav Matushov, Head of Public Law Disputes & Corporate Defense group


The Ministry of Justice published on regulation.gov.ru the draft Code of Administrative Offenses (the Code of Administrative Offenses). The first version of the document was presented to the public in January 2020 and has since been finalized. We recall that the procedural rules in considering administrative cases are now in the body of the Code of Administrative Offenses and as a result of administrative reform initiated by the government, they will be singled out as a separate law by analogy with the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Procedural Code of Administrative Offenses pays a lot of attention to the categories of citizens most often held accountable - drivers and car owners (in 2019, 19 million administrative cases were initiated against drivers, and 122 million against car owners (using cameras)). So, for them the possibility of an electronic appeal of decisions through the portal of public services is introduced: you can send statements, petitions, complaints to the court, the traffic police or any other body that conducts the proceedings. Notices and notifications to participants in the production (for example, of the decision made) will also be available in electronic form. Now, recall, to appeal the traffic police fine, you need to come to the department and write a statement.

Today, we recall, the discount applies only to violations in the field of traffic rules. Only gross offenders will not be able to take advantage of the discount (for example, it is a matter of disobedience to a lawful order or demand of a police officer, arms trafficking, etc.). The so-called adversarial institution is also introduced for the first time: an official will be able to participate in the trial of an administrative offense in court. This is a new procedural status. Today, courts can call, for example, a traffic police inspector to analyze a controversial situation on the road. In this case, the law enforcement officer gives evidence as a witness.


The official will be obliged to prove the guilt of the driver, if the judge deems it necessary. The Justice Ministry insists that as a result of the introduction of the principle of competition, participants in the process will have equal rights. For example, the inspector will have additional opportunities to respond to court decisions: for example, he will be able to challenge the decision to return the case for revision.

By analogy with the Code of Criminal Procedure, the document proposes to establish a mechanism for restoring the rights of citizens illegally prosecuted or for which security measures have been applied (for example, evacuation of a car). The victim will be able to claim compensation for property and moral damage (if it is an individual), as well as damage to the business reputation that has been done to the company. For the first time, the right to free legal aid (of a lawyer) appears in cases when a citizen is threatened with arrest (for example, under the articles “Beatings” or “Obtaining income from prostitution”).

Interviewed by Kommersant experts expressed different opinions about the project. The validity of the discount on the payment of the fine should not be valid from the moment the decision is made, but from the moment the citizen receives the decision, says, for example, Grigory Shukhman, an expert on traffic violation fixing systems. 


“The participation of the defense attorney must be ensured from the moment the case is opened, because often citizens, without proper legal knowledge, sign the protocols and decisions, as they say, without looking, which further complicates the appeal of such decisions to higher instances and the court,” he explains. this applies to foreign citizens. They need to be provided with a free translator. ”

The adversarial institute is enshrined in the project “declaratively,” says Stanislav Matyushov, senior associate at arbitration practice at Vegas Lex Law Firm. “In practice, the scales often outweigh the side of the administrative authority, because, firstly, their employees in the eyes of the court are persons with special knowledge, and secondly, representing the interests of the state,” he explains. “Therefore, for a citizen involved to liability, the subject of proof is artificially high. In support of his position, it is necessary to submit expert opinions, call independent experts, prepare other convincing evidence of a legal position. ”


You can find the full version of the article here: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4379905

The relevance of the topic was so high that subsequent publications were published on the materials of the article on the website of the electronic publication NEWSru.com and the information and analytical agency Milk Market News Milknews.ru.


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