President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed Bill 11068, which decriminalises petty thefts of up to UAH 3,000 and replaces the penalties with fines. This is stated in the bill’s card, Komersant ukrainskyi
reports
The new law comes into force the day after its official publication.
Under the new law, theft of property worth up to UAH 3,028 will no longer be considered a criminal offence. Previously, criminal liability was incurred for thefts worth UAH 300 or more.
The draft law provides for a new system of administrative fines for petty theft:
- theft of up to UAH 757: a fine of UAH 850 to UAH 1,700, community service for 20 to 30 hours, or administrative arrest for up to 5 days.
- theft from UAH 758 to UAH 3,028: a fine of UAH 1,700 to 5,100, community service for 30 to 40 hours, correctional labour for up to 1 month with a 20% deduction of earnings, or administrative arrest for 5 to 10 days.
- repeated theft: a fine of UAH 8,500 to 17,000, community service for up to 40-60 hours, correctional labour for up to 1-2 months with a 20% deduction of earnings, and administrative arrest for 10-15 days.
- if a person has been subjected to an administrative penalty for petty theft 3 or more times within a year, the fine will be from 600 to 1,000 tax-free minimums, and administrative arrest will be increased to 15 days.
Among other things, these changes are aimed at relieving the judicial system of petty cases and increasing administrative liability for minor thefts.
The law will entail changes to a number of articles of the Criminal Code relating to petty theft.
Since Ukraine is under martial law, petty theft is automatically classified under Part 4 of Article 185 of the Criminal Code, which carries a sentence of 5 to 8 years in prison. This leads to courts being overloaded with cases and people being convicted of stealing, for example, a bottle of whiskey. So the law aims to solve this.
It is worth noting that lawmakers have become more lenient not only towards ordinary citizens but also towards corrupt officials: The Rada has previously allowed corrupt officials to pay off their jail sentences.