Ministry of Justice proposes to ban arrests for economic crimes of minor gravity

The Ministry of Justice of Russia, on behalf of President Vladimir Putin, has developed amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which, in particular, propose to prohibit the detention of those suspected of crimes of small and medium gravity in the field of entrepreneurial and other economic activities, reported on the website of the department.

“It is proposed to establish a ban on choosing a measure of restraint in the form of detention against a suspect accused of committing crimes of small and medium gravity in the field of entrepreneurial and other economic activities,” the report says.

The bill proposes to prioritize preventive measures that allow you to continue doing business. An exception should be cases where the suspect violated a previously chosen preventive measure or tried to hide from the preliminary investigation authorities or from the court, the Justice Ministry added.

In addition, the department proposes to reduce the maximum period of preliminary investigation in this category of cases from 12 to 6 months, as well as to oblige investigators to obtain the consent of the prosecutor to file a petition with the court for a measure of restraint in the form of detention.

Earlier in June, Putin, speaking at the plenary session of the SPIEF, called for changing the criminal legislation on economic crimes, in particular, to review the elements of large and especially large amounts of damage, the grounds for detaining businessmen and the time limits for the preliminary investigation of their cases, to think about raising the threshold for bringing to liability of entrepreneurs for non-payment of customs and other payments. The President called entrepreneurial freedom one of the main principles of the country’s future development.

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