Amendments are being made to the Code of Administrative Offences, which will prohibit punishing twice for one offense

The State Duma is going to amend the Code of Administrative Offenses to eliminate the possibility of punishing citizens for the same administrative violation twice. The need to change the code was previously pointed out by the Constitutional Court when considering the case of a driver whose car hit a pedestrian. The amendments developed by the Cabinet of Ministers introduce a special legal mechanism that excludes double punishment not only when causing harm in an accident, but also in the case of administrative offenses that relate to property, the environment and wildlife.

On March 11, the State Duma Committee on State Construction recommended adopting in the first reading government amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, which introduce a mechanism that would exclude double punishment of citizens for the same offense. The reason was the ruling of the Constitutional Court (CC), issued in May 2023. KS then reviewed the case against Robert Chepurny, who, while driving a car, hit a boy in the city of Volsk (Saratov region). First, the traffic police fined the driver 1.5 thousand rubles. according to Art. 12.18 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for failure to give priority to a pedestrian in traffic. Then the district court deprived the motorist of his rights under Art. 12.24 (causing minor or moderate harm to health in an accident). Robert Chepurnoy unsuccessfully tried to appeal the decision in the courts of general jurisdiction, arguing that the Constitution prohibits punishing twice for one violation, and then appealed to the Constitutional Court. The Code of Administrative Offenses contains inaccuracies that need to be eliminated by amendments, the constitutional body ultimately decided.

The problem that the Constitutional Court drew attention to is typical not only for traffic offenses, but also for other areas of activity when it comes to causing harm (or the threat of harm), as stated in the explanatory note to the government amendments.

Therefore, it was decided to enshrine in the Code of Administrative Offenses a universal mechanism for all cases when, on the same fact of any action (inaction), proceedings are being carried out in several cases on the basis of different norms of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

The mechanism proposed by the Ministry of Justice is as follows. Any authority, for example, the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, Rostransnadzor, Roslekhoz, etc., when sending materials to the court in a case in which harm was caused (to human health, property, the environment, objects of flora and fauna, etc.), must check whether another case has been previously opened regarding the same “unlawful act”, but without causing harm. If there is such a case, the body or official will have to inform the court about it. The victim or the person held accountable can also inform the judge about a previously opened case.

The judge, in turn, will be able to request additional materials. In this case, the proceedings on the previously initiated case are suspended, as well as the statute of limitations for bringing to responsibility for it, until the consideration of the second case involving the infliction of harm. Based on the results of the review, the judge can make one of two decisions. The first scenario: a citizen is held accountable for a more serious offense (for example, for damage to the health of a pedestrian who was hit), while the proceedings in the first case (a fine for refusing to give way to a pedestrian) are terminated.

The second scenario: termination, on the contrary, of the case of harm (for example, if guilt in causing it has not been proven) and the resumption of proceedings on a softer, “formal” basis.

Director of the Yakovlev and Partners legal group Maria Yakovleva calls the idea of ​​a mechanism for requesting materials and suspending proceedings in the case “reasonable.” “However, the effectiveness of the proposed design will depend on the quality of interaction between authorities, as well as on the accuracy and efficiency of the exchange of information about the cases under consideration,” she emphasizes. “Establishing rules for the exchange of this information will improve coordination and prevent repeated punishment for the same act.” Traffic safety expert of the Popular Front, lawyer Katerina Solovyova, also draws attention to the lack of a unified system for exchanging information between courts and other bodies that handle cases of administrative offenses (in addition to the traffic police, for example, Roslekhoz, Rostransnadzor, various regional inspectorates, etc. .).

“I believe that the bill fully eliminates the previously existing gap of double bringing to administrative responsibility for the same offense,” says lawyer, partner of K&P.Group Alexander Rubin. “But after the adoption of the amendments, in order to avoid confusion in law enforcement practice, clarification from the Supreme Court will be necessary Russian Federation on these issues.”

Ivan Buranov