Deputies propose to strengthen responsibility for contempt of court and failure to appear at court sessions

A group of people’s deputies registered draft law No. 11387, which offers amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Ukraine. The purpose of the draft law is to ensure respect for the court and increase the efficiency of criminal proceedings.

The main changes, proposed draft laws:

• Increase of fines under Article 185-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for malicious evasion of court appearance or violation of order during the session from UAH 2,550 to UAH 3,400, and for repeated violations to UAH 6,800.
• Administrative liability for failure to comply with a decision on a pretext: Introduction of a new Article 185-6-1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, which provides for a fine from UAH 1,700 to 3,400 for failure to take measures to implement a court decision on a pretext.
• Court session secretaries and court secretaries have the right to draw up protocols under Article 185-6-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• Consolidation of the definition of the term “amount of subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons”, doubling the amount of fines for non-fulfilment of procedural duties, establishing the terms of consideration of applications for the recusal of a judge, establishing the duty of the prosecutor to ensure the appearance of prosecution witnesses, changing the procedure for consideration of requests to cancel fines and settlement of the issue of non-arrival of participants in the preparatory court session.

The authors of the draft law expect that its adoption will lead to an increase in the revenues of the state budget by increasing fines and fines, as well as improve the discipline of the participants in the court process and contribute to a more efficient consideration of criminal cases.