New types of labor punishment for offenders: what tasks await them

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is considering draft law No. 14154, which introduces changes to the system of community service as a form of punishment. It proposes to revise the norms of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, as well as the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes.

In particular, this draft law expands the possibilities of applying community service and changes some rules for its implementation. One of the main innovations is to increase the maximum duration of daily performance of such work. Currently, an offender can work only up to four hours a day, but the new rules will allow this time to be extended to eight hours if the person submits a corresponding application. For minors, the limit of two hours a day will remain.

The work schedule is planned to be agreed between the enterprise and the offender, taking into account his main job or studies, which, according to the initiators, will help serve the sentence faster.

Another important proposal is to expand the grounds for assigning community service. The court will have the right to assign it as an additional punishment even in cases where this is not specified in the sanction of the article. However, community service cannot be assigned together with arrest, restriction of liberty, imprisonment for a fixed term or life imprisonment.

In addition, it is planned to change the approach to the places where community service is performed. Currently, they are usually organized in one settlement, but in the future their execution may be allowed within the entire city or region. In this case, it is planned to provide transportation of persons to the place of performance of the work and back.

The draft also regulates situations when a person serving a sentence was called up for military service or became incapable of work after the sentence. In such cases, correctional work may be replaced by a fine, the amount of which is proposed to be determined on the basis of three non-taxable minimum incomes per month of unserved punishment.

Separate changes cover the mechanism for collecting fines. In case of failure to pay the fine or failure to make the next payment in the case of installments, a writ of execution may be issued by the court upon application by the probation agency.

After the draft law is evaluated by the relevant committee, it can be submitted to parliament for a vote. If adopted, the new rules for the appointment and performance of public works in Ukraine could significantly change.