Uzbekistan to decriminalize certain types of crimes with low social risk

The draft law “On additions and amendments to the Administrative Responsibility Code in connection with the improvement of liability for offenses against property” was published.

The draft law envisages the following changes:

By amending the wording of Article 61 of the Administrative Responsibility Code, it is proposed to impose a fine of 3 to 10 BCAs or administrative imprisonment for a period of up to 10 days for theft, embezzlement, misappropriation, abuse of official position or small amount of robbery by fraud.

Also, in the second part of the article, regardless of the form of ownership, if the same offense committed in an enterprise, institution, organization is repeated within one year after the application of the administrative penalty measure, a fine in the amount of 10 to 15 BCAs or administrative imprisonment for a period of up to 15 days is envisaged.

By supplementing this article with the fourth part, it is proposed that the person who committed the offense for the first time will not be subject to administrative imprisonment if he voluntarily compensates for the damage caused.

By amending the article’s fifth part, if the value of the looted property of citizens does not exceed 3 BCAs, and the value of the looted property of enterprises, institutions, organizations does not exceed 30 BCAs, it is intended to determine that such robbery is considered a small amount of robbery.

In the sixth part of the article, offenses related to the robbery of property of individuals in small amounts, when the symptoms of the relevant part clauses given as an aggravating circumstance in the relevant articles of the Criminal Code chapter on robbery of other people’s property are committed, it is suggested that it should not be qualified by this article and be the basis for criminal prosecution.

According to the bill, as a result of determining the minimum limit of damage caused by criminal acts provided for in the first part of the current articles 167- (embezzlement or robbery by means of fraud), 168- (Fraud), 169 (Theft) of the Criminal Code, the decriminalization of socially dangerous acts committed up to a certain amount of this type will be achieved.

It will prevent citizens from being tried for crimes of low social risk, and their excessive wandering in investigative offices.

In addition, as a result of the precise determination of the material damage caused by the offense committed, this, along with clarifying the threshold of assessment of this act as an administrative or criminal offense, increases the useful work coefficient of authorized persons, expands the possibility of preventing excessive expenses and quickly reviewing the situation in a simplified manner.

At the same time, when a small amount of damage is caused as a result of an offense related to robbery committed against citizens, non-evaluation (decriminalization) of the offender’s actions as a criminal offense and the committed offense will be evaluated as an administrative offense, the inevitability of responsibility will be achieved by applying an administrative penalty against him.