The Committee on Legislation: results of the autumn session

Parliamentarians of the Committee on Legislation, Protection of Rights and Freedoms of Citizens worked on legislations received from subjects of the right of legislative initiative during the autumn session. The press service of the Supreme Council has prepared a selection of the most significant of them.

Responsibility for extremism

Additions to the Criminal Code have been adopted that make it possible to punish extremism based on language, origin, gender and membership in any social group. The concepts have been clarified and expanded in order to harmonize with Russian legislation. A new article 278-4 appeared in the Criminal Code in addition: fine – from 1700 to 3000 minimum wages (from 31 thousand to 55 thousand rubles), compulsory work for up to 180 hours, correctional labor for up to 1 year or imprisonment for up to 3 years for repeated propaganda and public display of extremist symbols or Nazi paraphernalia. Those who have already committed similar actions and were brought to administrative responsibility under Article 20.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (propaganda or public display of Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols of extremist organizations, or other paraphernalia or symbols, the propaganda or public display of which is prohibited by law). 

Improvement of memorial places

The Supreme Council adopted a two-year state program “Improvement and preservation of burial places of Heroes of the Soviet Union, full holders of the Order of Glory and Memorials of Military Glory of the Great Patriotic War”. Renovation work is planned to be carried out at 24 sites during 2024 and 2025.

The program outlines specific types of work that are planned to be carried out at memorial sites in Tiraspol, Bendery, Dubossary, Slobodzeya, Grigoriopol and Rybnitsa districts, including the village of Novotiraspol. New monuments will be built, for example, in Slobodzeya - to the veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Hero of the Soviet Union Fyodor Antonovich Ugnachev. Two busts of Heroes of the Soviet Union Ivan Alekseevich Kuznetsov and Semyon Grigorievich Sobolev will be installed in the village of Malaeshty, Grigoriopol region. The Ministry of Defense together with city and district state administrations will oversee the implementation of the state program.

The amount of funding for the two-year state program is over 16 million rubles. The money will be put into the Capital Investment Fund.

Road safety: new measures

Administrative liability for repeated violation of traffic rules has been tightened:

– the fine for repeated speeding by an amount from 40 km/h to 60 km/h has been increased. Violators will now pay not 70 minimum wages (1288 rubles), but 100 minimum wages (1840 rubles);

– penalty for repeated drift has been introduced in the form of deprivation of rights for a period of 6 months to 1 year or administrative arrest for 15 days;

– administrative liability for driving a car after deprivation of rights in the form of a fine of 100 RU minimum wage or arrest for 15 days. There is no alternative under the law, the only punishment left is arrest. Arrest for 30 days in case of repeated such violation;

– the liability for repeated offenses by a driver who does not have the right to drive a vehicle has been tightened. Fine – 100 minimum wages (1840 rubles) or administrative arrest for 30 days.

– the fine is doubled and amounts to 10 minimum wages (up to 184 rubles) for violation of traffic rules by a pedestrian, passenger of a vehicle or other road user, resulting in interference with traffic on the roads.

Administrative liability for the consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances without a doctor’s prescription has been strengthened. The Code of Administrative Offenses stipulates that a violator of the law will be prohibited from driving a vehicle for a period of 1 year in addition to a fine or administrative arrest. The new measures also apply to violators who do not have a driver's license.

In addition to the Code of Administrative Offenses, the corresponding changes and additions developed by the Prosecutor of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic are prescribed in the law “On Road Safety”.

New Law on Advocacy

Parliamentarians adopted a new law “On advocacy and the legal profession in the PMR”. It will come into force on January 1, 2024. The law-in-draft was initiated by the Prosecutor of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and finalized by the relevant committee on legislation. Each article of the draft new law was discussed with representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor's Office, the judicial and legal communities within the framework of the working group. It spells out all the activities of lawyers, their rights and obligations, and excludes all legal gaps, noted Vice-Speaker of Parliament, Chairman of the Committee on Legislation, Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens Galina Antyufeyeva.

According to the new law, legal entities can be in the form of a lawyer's office, a law office and legal consultations in cities and regions of the republic. Those wishing to become a lawyer must have a higher legal education, work experience in the specialty for at least 3 years, or the applicant must undergo an internship in legal education for up to 1 year. Those who have not yet worked as a lawyer must pass a qualifying exam, thereby confirming their ability to practice law. The exam will be administered by a qualification commission consisting not only of lawyers, but also representatives of government bodies: the Supreme Council, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court and the Arbitration Court.

Regulations have been laid down for the work of the Chamber of Lawyers, which will replace the College of Lawyers that has been in force for many years. The Chamber will be a non-governmental non-profit organization and represent the interests of lawyers in relations with government authorities. The procedure for providing free legal assistance to the population by the Chamber is prescribed.

The new law will not prohibit former investigators, prosecutors and law enforcement officials from working as lawyers, since this category of lawyers is considered more professional than novice specialists.

Amendments to the Electoral and Administrative Codes

Amendments and additions to the Electoral Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses have been adopted. We are talking about updating the electoral legislation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic: the responsibilities of international observers, the powers of members of election commissions and guarantees of their labor rights are specified. It is provided that if a voter cannot fill out a ballot due to disability or health reasons, he has the right to use the help of another voter to do this. The Code of Administrative Offenses stipulates liability for violation of established requirements for the use of the newsletter. If a voter took a photo or video of a completed ballot and posted it on the Internet or took the ballot out of the voting premises, he may pay a fine of 75 to 100 minimum wages (1380 - 1840 rubles).

The norms of the law “On Pledge” have been clarified

Amendments were made to the law “On Pledge” at the initiative of the President of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. It has been clarified which document the body responsible for registering pledges must issue: both a certificate of registration of a pledge and an extract from the register, or it is necessary to issue a certificate of registration of a pledge, and an extract from the register only upon request. Difficulties in practice arose in understanding the rule of law. The law stipulates that information contained in state registers about the registration of a pledge (including in relation to vehicles) should be provided within a week in the form of an extract from the state register. This requires an application from the pledgor or pledgee, or their authorized representatives.

Such extracts from the state register are needed to check whether property, for example, a car, is pledged. If the register contains data that the property being purchased is mortgaged, this means that the purchaser has been notified of this.

Amendments to the Law “On Pledge” will facilitate the transition to electronic document flow when registering a pledge and reduce the use of paper documentation. The possibility of receiving an extract from the register by the pledgee and (or) pledgor in paper form is preserved at the same time.

Revision of the amount of state fees

The amount of a number of state fees for the provision of legal services and the issuance of documents by state authorities and officials will be increased starting next year at the proposal of the Government. The increase is due to an increase in labor costs, for the production of blank products, for the purchase of equipment and software over the 20 years of the law “On State Duty”.

For example, the state duty has been increased for actions related to:

– registration of civil status acts;

– state registration of legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, mass media, rights to real estate and transactions with it;

– citizenship of the PMR, migration, criminal record;

– registration of vehicles, trailers for them, driver’s licenses;

– application of special tax regimes;

– the right to hunt and the right to purchase weapons.

A state fee has been established for services that were previously provided free of charge. The state duty will cover part of the costs of providing services:

– for issuing a subsequent certificate within the framework of changing the last name, first name or patronymic, making corrections and changes in civil registration records;

– for state re-registration of civil status acts and issuance of certificates;

– for the restoration of vital records with a missed deadline, including the issuance of a certificate.

The current amount of state duty in relation to peasant farms has been retained (for state registration of peasant farms, for changing information about the peasant farm and information about the place of residence of the head of the peasant farm).

Amendments to the law “On State Duty” will come into force on January 1, 2024.

Registration of invention rights 

The procedure for state registration of official works created by an employee in the performance of official duties or on instructions from the employer has been improved. The employer will be issued a special certificate confirming his rights if he has exclusive rights to the work. The author will be provided with an author's certificate confirming his right to authorship, remuneration and other rights provided by law. It is possible to obtain a duplicate of title documents, patents or intellectual property certificates if lost or damaged. Amendments have been made to the Civil Code. A fee will be charged for registration of intellectual property objects, such as inventions, trademarks, copyrights and others, according to the adopted amendments to the law “On State Duty”.