Will in case: parents of disabled children will be released from compulsory work
Convicted women and single fathers who take care of disabled children will be released from compulsory labor and the Administrative Code will be revised for them. The Ministry of Justice proposed to prohibit the imposition of this type of punishment, the initiative was approved by the government, Izvestia found out. Currently, a ban on such a sanction applies to women with children under three years of age, as well as pregnant and disabled women. The changes are aimed at humanizing administrative legislation, experts noted. How the measure will work is described in the Izvestia article.
Who will be released from compulsory labor
Courts will be prohibited from assigning compulsory work to women who take care of disabled children and single fathers. Such amendments, developed by the Ministry of Justice, were approved on May 12 by the government commission on legislative activity (the document is available to Izvestia). This was reported by editorial sources in the Cabinet of Ministers.
Mandatory work for those who have committed an administrative offense consists in performing free socially useful work in their free time from their main official duties, service or study, Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association, reminded Izvestia.
"Currently, the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation prohibits the use of compulsory labor against pregnant women, women with children under the age of three, disabled people of groups I and II, military personnel, citizens called up for military training, as well as employees with special ranks — the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Rosgvardiya and others," he said.
The judge appoints mandatory work for a period of 20 to 200 hours, while they should not last more than four hours per day, although in some cases this period may be increased to eight, added Vladimir Kuznetsov, chairman of the All-Russian Trade Union of Mediators.
For example, landscaping and landscaping of streets and squares, cleaning of streets and adjacent territories, loading and unloading operations, and patient care can be assigned, Roman Babayants, an administrative law specialist, added.
Mandatory work, according to the expert, can be assigned, for example, for minor hooliganism, violation of traffic rules — in particular, driving while intoxicated in certain cases, non-payment of administrative fines within the prescribed period.
"The purpose of compulsory labor is not only to punish the offender, but also to promote his social rehabilitation through performing activities useful to society," he added.
The bailiff is responsible for overseeing the execution of mandatory work, added Anna Golub, partner at Criminal Defense Firm. Evasion from serving compulsory labor threatens with a fine from 150 thousand rubles to 300 thousand, or administrative arrest for up to 15 days.
The amendments, according to Vladimir Gruzdev, impose restrictions on the use of compulsory labor for women with disabled children, as well as for men who are single parents and have children under the age of three or children with disabilities.
"The relevant clause applies not only to parents, but also to persons who are adoptive parents, guardians or guardians of these children," he added.
Who can challenge the punishment?
The amendments are aimed at creating equal conditions between women and men when imposing punishments and grounds for release from them, the explanatory note says.
"In a family, both parents should equally establish a full-fledged relationship with the child, take care of him, and participate in his life. In this regard, the impossibility of imposing an administrative penalty in the form of compulsory labor solely on the mother is not an objectively justified measure," the authors emphasize.
The exclusion, according to them, is now "related to the gender of the parent and ignores the equally important role of a single father raising a child under the age of three."
There are many stories when the function of the sole breadwinner in the family is performed by a man, or he has a dependent disabled child, Anna Golub pointed out.
"Therefore, changes in laws are required to create equal conditions for the imposition of administrative punishment, regardless of gender," she said. — Thus, the category of men proposed in the draft law will have the opportunity to go to the child after the main work and perform their parental functions.
The bill also establishes the right of convicts to apply to the court for release from serving compulsory labor, if such a type of punishment was nevertheless imposed, Vladimir Gruzdev added.
Additionally, according to him, it is proposed to give the bailiff the right to file such a petition in the interests of persons against whom compulsory work cannot be applied. A corresponding provision is also planned to be introduced into the Federal Law "On Enforcement Proceedings".
"People with disabilities of the first or second group, as well as with the onset of pregnancy or a serious illness that prevents them from serving compulsory labor, do not always have the opportunity to apply for release from this type of punishment due to their physical condition or life circumstances," Roman Babayants pointed out.
In such cases, the bill proposes to empower bailiffs with new powers, namely, "to apply to the court for the release of these persons from further compulsory labor."
"That is, the bailiff was given moral responsibility for the late release from compulsory labor of persons who are unable to perform such work," he explained.
Why do we need changes to the Administrative Code?
Since 2017, a new type of criminal punishment in the form of forced labor has been applied in criminal legislation, the expert from the Popular Front reminded. Analytics", head of the project "People's Front. Pravo" by Elena Grin. This measure is applied for crimes of minor or moderate severity, or for the commission of a serious crime, but for the first time.
"If a convicted person evades punishment, it is replaced by imprisonment for the same period," the expert said. — The main objectives pursued by the legislator at that time were to strive for the humanization of criminal law and to increase the number of workers due to the labor potential of convicts.
The Ministry of Justice's proposal, she said, is aimed at protecting the rights and interests of children with disabilities and ensuring that women who find themselves in difficult situations can perform parental duties.
"This is in line with the principles of social justice and humanism enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and international treaties ratified by our country," she said. — Children with special needs require constant care and support, which cannot be combined with the obligation to regularly visit places of assigned work.
At the same time, there is no exact number of those sentenced to compulsory labor in the public domain, Anna Golub noted.
The amendments are conditioned by the desire to make the system of administrative penalties more humane, fair and taking into account the individual circumstances of offenders, Vladimir Kuznetsov added.
"The current regulation does not cover other vulnerable categories of citizens and does not provide sufficient flexibility," he believes. — The changes are aimed at taking into account family and medical circumstances in the appointment and execution of sentences, as well as ensuring equal rights of men and women in the context of family responsibilities.
The bill, he said, promotes the support of families and the well-being of children. This is especially important for parents who are solely responsible for the child's upbringing.
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