OREANDA-NEWS. April 29, 2013. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) devised a draft law on introducing changes to the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations, decreasing the minimum administrative fine imposed under Part 5 Article 19.8.

On 17 January 2013, the Constitution Court of the Russian Federation found unconstitutional the minimum administrative fine that for failure to provide information upon a request of the antimonopoly body imposed upon legal entities under Part 5 Article 19.8 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations.

The Constitution Court ruled that under the current system of legal regulation applying an administrative fine considerably lower than the low threshold - 300,000 Rubles to a legal entity, under Part 5 Article 19.8 of the Code on Administrative Violations, transfers such a fine from a measure preventing administrative violations, to an instrument of suppressing economic independence and unduly restricts freedom of entrepreneurial activity, which is contrary to the Constitution of Russia and the general legal principle of justice.

The Court ruled that the federal legislator must made amendments to the Code on Administrative Violations eliminating violations of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

“Thus, FAS devised the amendment to the Code on Administrative Violations, setting the lower fine Part 5 Article 19.8 at 50,000 Rubles. This measure will enable to determine punishments, taking into consideration the nature of an administrative violation, property status and financial situation of a legal entity as well as other essential case circumstances. It will facilitate imposing fair and commensurable administrative sanctions”, the Head of FAS Legal Department, Sergey Puzyrevsky, commented the amendment.

On 18 April 2013, the Government of the Russian Federation decided to submit the draft law, devised by FAS Russia, to the State Duma.

Reference:

Article 19.8 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Violations:
Failure to submit petitions, notifications (applications), information (data) to the federal antimonopoly authority, its regional bodies, the bodies regulating natural monopolies or export control bodies.