The first criminal case under the "collector" article of the Criminal Code: what to expect from law enforcement?
According to Vladimir Morgailik, the Duvernoix Legal’s attorney, the new article in the Criminal Code is a rare case of positive change, and it is welcome, as it simplifies the prosecution of unscrupulous collectors.
"Previously, in case of illegal actions on the part of collectors, each time it was necessary to select the corpus delicti that would be contained in the actions of these persons. At the same time, the police authorities were very reluctant to initiate such criminal cases, mostly preferring to refuse to initiate a case under one pretext or another," says Vladimir Morgailik.
However, Vladimir believes that it is too soon to draw conclusions about the practice of initiating criminal cases under the new article.
"In practice, when a new article of the Criminal Code appears, law enforcement agencies are in no hurry to immediately initiate massive criminal proceedings. They initiate several cases first and see how they go through the court. Only after a positive result, some kind of practice of their initiation begins to take shape," the lawyer explains.