Lukashenko signed a law amending codes on criminal liability
On February 17, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed the law "On Amendments to Codes on Criminal Liability," which comprehensively improves criminal and criminal procedure legislation. This was reported to BELTA by the press service of the Head of State.
In accordance with the document, sanctions for 97 offenses have been revised. Of these, 65 offenses have been supplemented with alternative, milder types of punishment (24 offenses previously only provided for imprisonment as the sole possible punishment). Another 32 offenses have been amended in terms of the severity of punishment.
It is established that imprisonment will not be imposed on women and single men who have committed minor offenses for the first time and are raising children under the age of 14, as well as on minors and persons with disabilities of Group I. However, these rules will not apply to extremism and violent crimes.
Criminal cases for traffic violations that result in harm to close relatives or family members of the offender will be initiated only upon the application of the victims. This approach is intended to facilitate the resolution of conflicts within the family.
The law provides
measures to strengthen the fight against cybercrime have been considered. For example, it is possible to seize funds that are the subject of a crime. This will allow for the prompt blocking of stolen amounts in accounts and ensure their return to victims. A mechanism for blocking mobile phone numbers, phishing sites, and other Internet resources used by criminals in fraudulent schemes is also being established.
The protection of the rights of minors involved in criminal proceedings is enhanced. Now, the participation of a teacher or psychologist will be mandatory both during the interrogation of adolescents and during face-to-face confrontations and on-site testimony checks involving them.
In addition, the law provides for measures that allow courts to take a more flexible approach to sentencing for drug trafficking offenses.
The main provisions of the law will enter into force ten days after its official publication.
As reported, the draft of the relevant law was submitted to parliament by the President of Belarus in August 2024. The document was prepared by a working group specially created within the Administration of the President. Taking into account the instructions of the head of state, given at a meeting on certain issues of improving legislation
In order to propose adjustments that would provide courts with more opportunities to individualize punishment depending on the severity of the committed crime, as well as to make criminal legislation more humane towards certain categories of persons, the working group conducted a systematic analysis of the norms of criminal and criminal procedure laws regarding criminal liability.