The lower house of parliament of Tajikistan on August 23 unanimously supported the draft amendments proposed by the president to the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offenses, according to which the responsibility of drivers is toughened.
According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan Ramazon Rahimzod, from the beginning of the year until August 20 inclusive, over 15 thousand road accidents were registered on the roads of the republic, as a result of which 5 thousand people were killed and about 18 thousand were injured.
According to the Minister, more than 2.5 thousand drivers committed accidents who have no rights to drive motor vehicles and 1.7 thousand drivers in a state of intoxication.
"Taking into account these circumstances, the president proposed changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Tajikistan, which are aimed at toughening the responsibility of drivers," the minister said.
In particular, some articles of the Code on Administrative Offenses are amended, according to which the period of deprivation of rights to drive vehicles increased from 2 to 10 years and tightened the penalties.
For example, if in article 332 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for driving in a drunken state, punishment was provided only in the form of deprivation of rights for a period of two years, according to the new proposals, the punishment was toughened, and for this act a fine of three hundred figures for calculations (that is, 15 Thousand somoni) or administrative arrest for up to 15 days with deprivation of the right to drive vehicles for a period of five years.
The responsibility is also toughened for the driving of motor vehicles without a driver's license (article 336, part 1), the fine is increased from 3 to 5 indicators for calculations (150-250 somoni) to 250 indicators for settlements (12,500 somoni).
If the current Code for the driving motor vehicles without a driver's license and in a state of intoxication provided for a fine of 50-70 indicators for calculations (2500-3500 somoni), then now there will be a fine of 400 indicators for calculations (that is, 20 thousand somoni). For the repeated commission of the same act within a year after the imposition of an administrative penalty a person will be prosecuted.
The amendment proposed to article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan is aimed at toughening the punishment against persons who drive motor vehicles while drunk or violate the rules of traffic in a state of intoxication and cause death.
In particular, for violation of traffic rules in a state of intoxication, which caused the death of a person due to negligence or caused serious damage to human health punishable by imprisonment for a period of 5 to 10 years with the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of 10 years. If this act causes the death of more than two people, it provides for punishment in the form of deprivation of liberty from 10 to 15 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of 10 to 20 years.
Also, the punishment for driving without driver's license and being drunk will be toughened within one year after the expiry of the sentence, and imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of 500 to 1000 indicators for settlements (from 25 thousand to 50 thousand somoni).
