As part of this draft law, it is planned to supplement Article 116, concerning "Damage to Water Management Facilities," with an alternative punishment in the form of community service lasting from 20 to 40 hours.
Currently, this offense is subject to fines of 20,000 soms for individuals and 65,000 soms for legal entities.
"The main goal of this initiative is to ensure the inevitability of punishment in cases where fines are not paid or do not have a preventive effect, as well as to instill respect for ecology and urban infrastructure among offenders, and reduce state costs on short-term arrests and debt collection for fines," the justification for the draft law states.
The proposed changes also concern Article 114 "Violation of the Rules for Improving the Territory," where it is suggested to allow community service lasting 20 hours as an alternative to a warning.
For Article 115 "Dumping, Storing, Burning Waste in Unauthorized Places," three changes are proposed: in the first part, a warning will be replaced with community service (20 hours); in parts 2 and 3, an alternative will be introduced—community service from 20 to 30 hours in addition to or instead of a fine.
According to the deputy, the implementation of community service will allow:
· to demonstrate restorative justice to residents, when the offender restores the damaged area;
· to reduce the number of unpaid fines and the associated costs for the state in collecting them;
· to strengthen discipline in handling household and industrial waste, reduce the number of unauthorized dumps, and improve sanitary conditions in populated areas;
· to decrease the likelihood of repeat offenses through the educational impact of personal labor.
