The State Duma approved in the first reading amendments to the Criminal Code to toughen penalties for drunk driving

At a meeting on May 25, the State Duma adopted in the first reading amendments to the Criminal Code to toughen penalties for drunk driving, TASS reports.

We are talking about amendments to Article 264.1 of the Criminal Code prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which provides for sanctions for drivers previously punished for drunk driving (or refusal to undergo a medical examination) under the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO) and having the status of "subject to administrative punishment."

The current legislation states that if such a driver is caught drunk again within a year, he faces criminal liability. The court may impose a fine of 200-300 thousand rubles, send the offender to prison for up to two years, or impose another punishment. The amendments propose introducing tougher sanctions for those previously convicted under Article 264.1. This includes a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles, correctional labor for up to two years, forced labor for up to three years, and imprisonment for up to three years.

The need for these amendments was explained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs by the fact that the current version of Article 264.1, which appeared in the Criminal Code in 2014, does not contribute to the fight against drunk driving. Thus, of all persons punished under it in 2020, 20% were convicted under it again (in 2018 - 10%, in 2019 - 15%). In Udmurtia, this figure was 49%, and in the Murmansk region - 30%. In the Kaliningrad region, the driver was convicted under this article four times.

Lawyer, advocate of the "Freedom of Choice" movement Sergey Radko called the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs "a conditional strengthening", noting that the courts will not be able to sentence to arrest those convicted for the first time under Article 264.1, since crimes under this article are currently classified as minor crimes. Radko noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs proposed to raise crimes under Article 264.1 of the Criminal Code to the category of medium gravity, which could "free the hands of judges", but this idea was abandoned.

The new version of the Code of Administrative Offences, which is being prepared by the Ministry of Justice, also provides for changes in penalties for drunk driving. In particular, the draft document provides for the introduction of a bail of 30 thousand rubles for a car seized from a drunk driver, and in some cases, the confiscation of the vehicle without the right to return.

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