Humanization as a path to Europe

On January 17, 2012 - the long-awaited law on humanization of responsibility for a number of crimes in the sphere of economic activity came into force.

Many politicians believe that by adoption of this law Ukraine has made a significant step in Europe, because these innovations are considered as unique European practice and a positive shift for Ukraine.

The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code provide that in cases of economic offenses it is offered to use the measure of restraint in the form of bail. "The amount of bail varies from 5 to 289 000 UAH, depending on the severity of the crime - said Valentine Smolyakova, partner and attorney of the LPGroup law firm. - In some cases, instead of punishment in form of imprisonment there is a money penalty, in others - criminal liability is replaced by the administrative one".

"Significant progress towards European integration is seen in decriminalization of commodity smuggling, - says Yuriy Kravchuk, a partner and lawyer of LPGroup. - The world's understanding of smuggling is when someone smuggles weapons, drugs and other prohibited items. Regarding commodity smuggling, which is prior to the law in our country was a criminal offense, the only and the most effective mechanism in this case - not the imprisonment of the smugglers, but removal of undeclared items and penalty. It is declared by the new laws".