Amnesty 2021 in Russia in criminal cases

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Back in February 2020, discussions began on a draft amnesty in Russia in criminal matters. The latest news about which articles are eligible concerns not only one project - several have been developed. Perhaps the implementation will be delayed until the end of 2021.

What projects were considered in 2020

Since the end of last year, the latest news has repeatedly put forward assumptions about the likely holding of an amnesty in Russia for a significant date - the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Previously, it was assumed that such an event should be timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the country's Constitution or an administrative amnesty, about which it had already been decided that it would not be possible until amendments were made to the Administrative Code.

The State Duma of Russia is still considering several different projects developed over the previous 2 years:

1. Ya. Nilov, head of the State Duma committee on labor and social policy, made a proposal to announce a one-time abolition of fines for individuals for violations of traffic rules. But this does not apply to heavy articles, but to small fines. Considering that last year the Russians paid more than 106.5 billion rubles, then even insignificant penalties can amount to a significant amount. The author of the project motivated his proposal with the difficult material conditions in which the Russians fell due to the coronavirus.
2. The initiative for clemency in criminal cases was put forward in the spring of 2019 by the Presidium of the Human Rights Council. Presumably, it began to be developed in two directions, although the Russian president is called the initiator of such a humane act.
3. According to the latest news from the State Duma, an in-depth discussion of the two proposed options is under way. The one that is most elaborated and meets the intended goals will be approved. At the time of the appearance of such a project, only the possibility of pardoning certain categories of persons involved in criminal cases was considered.
4. Initially, it was announced that the initiative, undertaken in the year of the 25th anniversary of the Russian Constitution, did not meet with approval due to the fact that this date coincided with the next elections and could be regarded as an attempt to conquer the electorate by administrative methods.
5. The decision to time the act of pardon to the significant date was made with reference to a similar mass amnesty for the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory. The State Duma had a fairly significant period of time to prepare. But in April 2020, no decision was made on any of the developed areas.

The author of one project is named S. Ivanov, a deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party. The second belongs to V. Fadeev, head of the Human Rights Council. P. Krasheninnikov, chairman of the Duma Committee on State Construction and Legislation, said that the body entrusted to him will immediately consider the project as soon as it is ready.

Obviously, the amnesty will take place in 2021, since none of the projects have been implemented before.

The likelihood of a pardon due to unfulfilled projects of the last year

The latest news reports that the government intends to implement this year everything that was not possible to prepare in the past. Then the legislators had many other urgent matters on measures of social support of the population, the reorganization of healthcare and the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. It was safer in prisons than in freedom, but the situation has finally changed, and in 2021 there are objective prerequisites for an act of humanity and mercy.

The FSIN reported that the unrealized project of amnesty in Russia on the occasion of the anniversary of the Great Victory is likely to be replaced with a more ambitious one. So far, not much is known about him. Presumably, the planned amnesty can be replaced with a planned one. In Russia, it usually has the character of a mass action concerning several categories of prisoners.

Some publications refer to the message of V. Gefter, who holds the post of chairman of the HRC under the President of Russia. Information about the alleged release is not specific, it is only known that:

• it is planned to release more than 30 thousand prisoners, but under what articles the convicts are subject to full release, and under which they will be released under house arrest, it is not known;
• in view of the urgent need, the planned amnesty in criminal cases will be considered in an accelerated period.

V. Gefter admitted that the list of which articles in criminal cases fall under this long-awaited decision will coincide with the one proposed earlier.

It is also unknown which project - S. Ivanova or the one submitted by the HRC, developed in 2019-2020, will be adopted as a basis. This is probably due to the fact that the work on them was not carried out intensively enough, and some points were not finalized. Informed sources said both projects did not suit the president.

Any amnesty in 2021 must be based on the corresponding article of the Constitution, the decision is made by the State Duma. The amnesty can be extended to any period in 2021.

Who can fall under an act of mercy

Sudden amnesties, unlike planned ones, are rarely large-scale. Let's list which persons usually fall under the amnesty:

• special categories of prisoners - women and adolescents, veterans and the disabled, terminally ill people;
• convicted of crimes of small (sometimes medium) severity, with a short term of imprisonment;
• those who managed to achieve the retraining of the article for a less significant one.

The act of mercy does not apply to murderers and rapists, participants in fatal robberies, convicted of a cumulative crime.

According to the latest news, the next amnesty, according to experts, will not be in 2021, but only in 2025. It is not known what this confidence is based on, given that only those prisoners with short sentences are usually subject to the act of pardon.

Summarize

1. So far, there is no reliable information about the amnesty in 2021.
2. The amnesty planned earlier for the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory was not accepted.
3. On the occasion of the coronavirus, the amnesty was canceled due to a small number of infected among prisoners and a significant one at large.
4. According to the Constitution, the State Duma adopts the resolution on the amnesty and the procedure for its implementation.