12:10 26/05/2021
MOSCOW, May 26 (RAPSI) – The Government Legislative Commission has approved a legislative initiative aimed at improving the law enforcement system for willful failure to pay alimony, the press service of the Association of Lawyers of Russia RAPSI said.
Every year officials of the Federal Enforcement Service make several thousand decisions rejecting the initiation of criminal cases for willful refusal of maintenance, often on the grounds that defaulters have made certain payments, even if these are irregular and insignificant. 8,000 such decisions were made in 2019, the corresponding figure for eight months in 2020 was 4,400, the press service quoted the chairman of the board of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, Vladimir Gruzdev.
In addition, according to Gruzdev, cases that have already been initiated are often closed at the request of the public prosecutor.
Changes have been made to the Criminal Code as well as the Code of Administrative Violations that would not allow citizens to evade responsibility for non-payment of alimony for formal reasons such as transferring some meager amounts. It is worth remembering that there is currently a two-tier system in place in Russia for assuming responsibility for non-payment of alimony. First-time offenders are brought into administrative responsibility. Repeated violations are criminally punishable, stated the chairman of the association.
Earlier, a plenary session of the Russian Supreme Court had declared that those who underpay maintenance debts could be held accountable.
Statistics from the Supreme Court of Russia show that in 2020, 95,100 people were administratively fined for non-payment of alimony without a legitimate reason. 37,900 people were prosecuted; Gruzdev summarized that 19 people were tried for failure to pay maintenance to their parents. He believes that the aforementioned legislative initiative will close the loophole for unscrupulous maintenance debtors.
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