The authorities approved an increase in the punishment for repeated beatings to a criminal one. The Ministry of Internal Affairs opposes

The authorities approved an amendment to the law, according to which the third case of beatings would be classified as a criminal offense, rather than an administrative offense. About it reported Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association Vladimir Gruzdev.

“For regular physical violence, if it did not cause harm to health, there will be compulsory work for up to 480 hours, restriction of freedom for up to a year and other sanctions,” explained Gruzdev.

The amendment was adopted by the Government Commission on Legislative Activities. There is a legal gap in the current norms of criminal legislation: according to article 116.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (beating by a person subjected to administrative punishment), for the first case of beating, an administrative penalty is provided, for the second – a criminal one, and for the third – again an administrative one. The amendment will address this gap.

From a legal point of view, violent acts that did not harm human health are considered beatings. These include slaps, punches, and any use of force that causes the victim to experience pain.

At the moment, Art. 6.1.1 (“Beating”) of the Administrative Code, which punishes for the first case of beatings, provides for a fine of 5 to 30 thousand rubles, or administrative arrest for up to 15 days, or compulsory work for up to 120 hours.

In May 2020, the Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to toughen the liability under this article, which also qualifies cases of domestic violence. “Such changes were recognized as inexpedient, since there is a disparity between administrative responsibility and criminal responsibility,” the department said. The Ministry of Internal Affairs considers the decriminalization of beatings to be justified, since “the transfer of the majority of criminally punishable beatings to the category of administrative offenses made it possible to highlight a significant number of latent acts and positively influenced the prevention of grave and especially grave crimes on domestic grounds.”

At the same time, according to data from non-profit organizations, the number of complaints about domestic violence in Russia in 2020 has grown 2.5 times.

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