The President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed Federal law limiting the use of a special procedure for the trial only to criminal cases on crimes of medium gravity, the corresponding document published on the official portal of legal information.
Changes made to articles 314 and 316 of the Criminal procedure code of the Russian Federation.
Cases of crimes referred by the law to the category heavy because of their high social danger, as a rule, are particularly complex and concern a significant number of victims, cause great public outcry and coverage in the media, which requires the establishment at the legislative level, a high degree of procedural guarantees of fair trial, stated in the explanatory Memorandum.
Such crimes include offences such as fraud in large and especially large amounts committed by an organized group of persons, abuse of authority causing grave consequences.
The law restricts the use of special proceedings in criminal cases on crimes of medium gravity, which in accordance with article 15 of the criminal code offences include intentional crimes for committing of which the maximum punishment does not exceed five years of imprisonment, as well as all crimes of negligence.
Special order of consideration of criminal cases is a shortened procedure which is used when the defendant agrees with the charges against him, and the court considering the matter without trial.
