Penalty bestseller

The Moscow City Duma expands the boundaries of administrative responsibility of citizens

The city authorities intend to introduce their own administrative code in the city, providing for liability for offenses not prescribed in federal legislation. At yesterday's meeting of the Moscow City Duma, deputies voted for the bill introduced by United Russia in the first reading. If legislators do not delay work on the document, then Moscow will become the ninth region of Russia to have its own administrative code.

According to the editor of the bill, head of the Moscow City Duma commission on legislation, Alexander Semennikov, the draft code not only brings together the 24 administrative laws in force in Moscow, but also supplements them with new articles. For example, for an unlawful refusal to enroll a child in school, a fine of up to 10 minimum wages will be imposed on the director. Administrative liability is also provided for begging, solicitation of services (including religious propaganda), fortune telling on cards and gambling in public places.

An entire chapter of the code is devoted to keeping pets by Muscovites. Recalling that there is still no law on animals in the city, Mr. Semennikov emphasized that the code is intended to correct this omission. According to him, the bill describes in detail all aspects of life in Moscow for any mammals, from rodents to horses. “The logic here is this: from the birth of an animal to its death,” the deputy humanely explained, clarifying that the code also provides for large fines for killing an animal outside the established procedure, as well as for disposing of its corpse in an improper manner. “This will be a legal bestseller,” the deputy promised.

Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Vladimir Platonov, recalling that the mayor had repeatedly sent the future bestseller for revision, called on his colleagues to pay close attention to the bill. In parallel with the work on their own code, the speaker suggested that deputies turn to the State Duma with a demand to amend the federal law prohibiting regions from imposing administrative fines above 2,500 rubles. for citizens and above 5000 rubles. for officials. According to him, low fines in wealthy Moscow lead to the fact that dog owners who walk their pets on playgrounds offer to pay the fine a year in advance, so that after that they can walk wherever they please.

The deputies agreed on the need to carefully work on the document and decided to think about amendments before September 13. If deputies need the same amount of time to prepare for the third reading, then the administrative code of the city of Moscow will come into force no earlier than January 1, 2007.

Alexander GUDKOV