The stricter the better

Russia's Constitutional Court on Wednesday declared illegal provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code that make it impossible to review a court's sentence if it could worsen the situation of the convicted person. The Constitutional Court conducted a review of the legality of the relevant provisions (clause 2 of parts 2 and 3 of Articles 413 and 418 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) in connection with a request from the Presidium of the Kurgan Regional Court. Now the federal assembly must make appropriate changes to the Criminal Procedure Code within six months, and sentences will become tougher after they are passed.