In criminal cases of libel, reconciliation of the parties will be excluded

The initiator of the bill was the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia. The authors of the legislative initiative propose to amend the Criminal Procedure Code. The amendments will affect the criminal prosecution under Part 1 of Art. 115, art. 116.1 and part 1 of Art. 128.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (intentional infliction of minor harm to health, beating by a person subject to administrative punishment, and libel).

"It is proposed to transfer them into the category of criminal cases of private-public prosecution, which are initiated at the request of the victim or his legal representative, but are not subject to termination due to the reconciliation of the victim with the accused", - Kommersant reports.

The publication does not detail why, in addition to cases of domestic violence, the legislator proposes to toughen the liability for defamation. Earlier it was reported that on April 5, the punishment for this type of crime in Russia had already been significantly toughened.

Private prosecution status now allows domestic violence cases to be closed due to reconciliation. The Armed Forces believe that this does not allow to fully protect the rights of victims. As the shortcomings of the existing system, the Armed Forces call the fact that the burden of proof in private prosecution cases lies with the injured party, and if the parties are reconciled, the victim may be reimbursed for part of the legal costs.

The current situation, according to the Supreme Court, can be changed if the possibility of considering such cases by way of private accusation by justices of the peace is excluded.

“The bill also speaks of the 'special vulnerability of victims of domestic violence' and the need for active participation of the state in their protection”, - notes The Insider.

The problem of domestic violence is very urgent for Russia. During the pandemic, the number of incidents of aggression on the part of “home boxers” increased significantly. However, not all cases reached the court. And of those that did, most did not lead to punishment of the violators. According to statistics, in 2020, for the deliberate infliction of slight harm to human health under Part 1 of Art. 115 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, 1,616 persons were convicted, and under Art. 116.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (beatings) - 1629 people. At the same time, in connection with reconciliation with the victim, the courts terminated criminal cases against 1519 and 1355 citizens, respectively. With the transfer of this category of cases to the sphere of private-public prosecution, the role of the state in proving the guilt of domestic rapists will increase, which in the future will entail the inevitability of punishment.