Liberalization and prevention. How will administrative liability codes change? 

Andrey Matelsky, Director of the National Center for Legislation and Legal Information, today passed the bill "On Amending the Codes of Administrative Liability" in its first reading. The bill provides for comprehensive amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) and the Procedural-Executive Code of Administrative Offenses (PICOAO) based on an analysis of law enforcement practices and adopted legislation. Over the past five years, only isolated, minor amendments have been made to these codes. These adjustments were necessitated by the need to urgently regulate critical relationships related to ensuring national security interests, as well as resolving issues of particular social significance. However, the innovations and basic approaches enshrined in the new versions of the codes have not been amended during this period. 

The proposed amendments are another step toward addressing gaps in legal regulation in this area, taking into account the country's socioeconomic development. They propose liberalizing liability for administrative offenses, enhancing preventative measures in this area, and streamlining the administrative process. The draft law was presented by Andrei Matelsky, Director

of the National Center for Legislation and Legal Information. A BELTA correspondent outlined the key innovations. No Fundamental Changes

Overall, the draft law does not propose any fundamental changes. It reflects a consistent legal policy aimed at further developing, improving, and strengthening the currently smoothly functioning mechanism.

According to Andrei Matelsky, the draft implements seven instructions from the head of state, including the provisions of five decrees.

Thus, in pursuance of the acts of the head of state, the Code of Administrative Offenses is supplemented with new provisions establishing administrative liability for a number of offenses. Specifically, this concerns violations of the procedure for purchasing official and special-purpose passenger cars (Article 24.60 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The presidential decree streamlines the requirements for vehicle acquisition. These include requirements regarding the cost, the manufacturer of the vehicle, and the mandatory absence of overdue debts on budget payments and wages. The draft law provides for appropriate penalties for failure to comply with these requirements.
Penalties are also provided for violations of requirements regarding the coverage of territories with cellular telecommunications services and the quality of such services. In accordance with the act of the head of state, the government has defined specific requirements for territorial coverage and quality, failure to comply with which entails liability. 
New penalties have been introduced for prohibited transactions and operations involving digital tokens (Article 12.36). This also applies to the illegal representation of the Republic of Belarus at international, cultural, sporting, and educational events (Article 24.62) and violations of procedures for regulating the spread of certain invasive plant species (Article 16.46). 

In accordance with the instructions of the head of state, penalties have been established for the promotion of homosexual relations, gender reassignment, childlessness, and pedophilia. Article 19.16 has been added to the Code of Administrative Offenses.

The preventative component is strengthened

. The second set of key provisions of the draft aims to strengthen the preventative component of the legislation on administrative liability. The Director of the National Center for Legislation and Legal Information (NCLI) explained that this is being achieved by expanding the circumstances that preclude administrative liability, provided that the violations are promptly corrected and harmful consequences are prevented.

Specifically, liability for failure to pay taxes and other mandatory budget payments in amounts not exceeding 100 basic units (BU) is excluded if the outstanding debt is repaid within 10 days of the receipt of the inspection report. Under current regulations, liability is excluded if the debt does not exceed 1% of the amount due. The draft regulation introduces an additional alternative criterion: no more than 100 BU or 1%.
The draft law excludes liability for violating public procurement laws, provided that the violations are remedied within the specified timeframe after receiving an order from a government agency. The exemption will not apply if such violations are detected again within a year. A corresponding note is provided to Article 12.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.

Liability for providing inaccurate information in a statistical declaration is excluded if the declaration is amended accordingly before the start of the administrative process.

Andrey Matelsky emphasized that in all of the above cases, the exemption will be mandatory.

A new universal rule is also being introduced, applicable to any administrative violations committed by business entities. This rule will allow a legal entity to be exempt from administrative liability if it prevented the harmful consequences of the violation. This exemption is not unconditional, he emphasized. The decision will be made taking into account all the circumstances of the violation. The opportunity to correct mistakes without liability encourages businesses to immediately address any violations. 

The draft improves the preventive institution of educational measures for juvenile offenders. This institution is relatively new, having been introduced in 2021. To further develop it, it is proposed to supplement the Code of Administrative Offenses with a new, dedicated section on the application of educational measures. The new section systematically establishes the requirements, general, and specific aspects of the application of educational measures. Specifically, taking into account the requests of law enforcement officials, it defines the legislative framework governing the procedure and conditions for applying such measures, the direct executors, the timeframes and methods of implementation, and the corresponding procedural procedures. 

Proportionality of Liability to the Nature of the Act and the Harm Caused

: In the context of the President's demands for fairness in administrative prosecution, a number of draft provisions aim to ensure proportionality of liability to the nature of the act and the harm caused. The draft contains amendments that ensure such proportionality. These adjustments apply both to violations committed during business activities and to life situations in which citizens find themselves. Specifically, it is proposed to differentiate penalties for individual offenses, with mitigated sanctions for acts characterized by a lesser degree of public danger. 

Andrey Matelsky gave an example. Article 18.14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses establishes liability for driving a vehicle while unlicensed. Fines range from 5 to 20 base units. For repeat offenses within a year, penalties are significantly increased—fines from 20 to 50 base units, community service, or administrative arrest. A third offense of this type entails criminal liability. 
"Such harsh measures are undoubtedly justified when applied to individuals deprived of their driver's license for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. For obvious reasons, someone who gets behind the wheel without ever having a driver's license also poses a high public danger," noted the director of the National Center for the Protection of Personal Injuries (NCPPI).
However, these harsh measures also apply to citizens whose driver's licenses have simply expired but who, for various reasons, have not renewed them. The public danger of such an offense is incomparable to the aforementioned cases. For this reason, the current penalties, including criminal ones, are clearly disproportionate to the severity of such an offense. Accordingly, the bill proposes to clarify these provisions. 

According to Andrey Matelsky, driving with an expired driver's license is being classified as a separate offense. These offenses are being reclassified from major offenses to misdemeanors. A proportionate fine of 2 to 5 base units is being established. Repeated offenses of this type will not result in criminal liability. 

However, ensuring proportionality of penalties does not always equate to mitigation. Law enforcement data demonstrates the need to strengthen such measures in certain cases. For example, in 2024 , there were more than 1,000 traffic accidents involving pedestrians, resulting in 143 fatalities and 940 injuries. One in three pedestrian fatalities was intoxicated. Last year, drunk pedestrians committed 32,500 traffic violations, and one in ten of these violations was a repeat offense. 

According to the current procedure, if such an offense is committed for the first time, the person is released from liability with a warning. The statistics provided show that existing enforcement measures in this case are not having the necessary preventative effect. In connection with this draft, an amendment is being introduced that will allow intoxicated pedestrians to be immediately subject to more severe administrative penalties for traffic violations, without waiting for them to commit a similar offense again. Much work

remains

. The bill "On Amending the Codes of Administrative Liability" has been adopted in its first reading. A working group meeting on this draft was held today in the House of Representatives.

"We have a great deal of work ahead of us to consider the comments and suggestions received while the draft was in the House of Representatives. We will work on this," said Oleksandr Omelyanuk, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on Legislation. "The proposals are diverse. They came from deputies who reviewed the draft. They concern changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses and the implementation of proposals that resulted from parliamentary hearings regarding the development of the digital economy in our country." 
In particular, the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus's proposal to introduce administrative liability for employers for the failure to transfer, incomplete transfer, and/or late transfer of union dues withheld based on employees' written requests was considered. The State Control Committee proposes supplementing the draft with a definition of the term "proper notice" used in the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO AO). This definition is currently not provided in the Code of Administrative Offenses.

"We need to carefully consider the opinions of all stakeholders. And, of course, we have always fulfilled and continue to fulfill this task. It is crucial to listen to all opinions on the proposals and comments received and make a reasoned, balanced decision," concluded Alexander Omelyanuk.

BELTA. 
Photo by Sergei Sheleg .