Exit ticket: Russia will establish new rules for bail for the accused
New rules for release on bail may appear in Russia. Currently, this measure of restraint is practically not applied in Russia — there have been only a few dozen such cases over the past ten years. The Criminal Procedure Code lacks a clear mechanism for its application, the experts stated. The Ministry of Justice proposed to set the parameters for determining the amount of bail, as well as to enable the court, when making such a decision, to prohibit the accused from certain actions: for example, to leave the house or leave the city. How the mechanism will work is described in the Izvestia article.
How they offer to release on bail
The Ministry of Justice proposed to introduce clear parameters for determining the amount of bail when deciding on such a measure of restraint. The relevant amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code were approved on November 24 by the Government commission on legislative activity. This was reported to Izvestia by sources in the Cabinet of Ministers.
Currently, bail is a preventive measure in the law, but it is almost never used in real judicial practice, said Ekaterina Bespalova, a criminal defense lawyer and managing partner of the M-Partners Bar Association.
The type and size are currently determined based on the nature of the crime, the identity of the suspect and his property status. The amount of bail in small and medium—gravity criminal cases may not be less than 50 thousand rubles, in serious and especially serious cases - less than 500 thousand rubles.
According to judicial statistics and open sources, the share of bail orders is less than 0.2%. In 2023, the courts chose bail only 66 times for the whole country, in 2024 - 67. At the same time, about 85 thousand decisions on detention are made annually, about 16 thousand orders on house arrest and almost 5 thousand on the prohibition of certain actions.
— The disparity is huge, — Ekaterina Bespalova noted. — Even in economic matters, where bail seems to be the most logical measure, he was elected only twice in 2024.
The amendments, if adopted, will significantly expand the frequency of bail applications for suspects or those accused of economic crimes, Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association, told Izvestia.
"The amendments specify that the amount of collateral is determined within the amount of damage caused to the budget system, a citizen or an organization," he said. — This concerns crimes against the economy, including tax and fee evasion, violation of exclusive rights, and especially qualified fraud.
The chairman of the Board of the AYR also clarified that the bill provides for the possibility for the court to apply additional prohibitions along with bail.
"These are prohibitions provided for in certain parts of Article 105.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation or obligations under such a preventive measure as a written undertaking not to leave," the expert explained. — These include, for example, the prohibition to leave your place of residence without permission, the obligation to appear on investigative calls, and the prohibition to communicate with certain persons. The duration of these prohibitions will be determined by the court.
In the ten months of 2025, the damage from economic crimes amounted to 266.2 billion rubles, which is the maximum since 2023, according to the materials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A total of 88.7 thousand crimes of this category were detected.
Why don't they apply bail
The expansion of the practice of applying preventive measures, alternative to detention, began to be actively discussed in 2024. Deputy Minister of Justice Vadim Fedorov said at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum (SPIEF) that since 2010, the number of convicts in penal colonies has decreased threefold, while the number of prisoners in pre-trial detention has not changed.
—And, importantly, there is no increase in crime," the Deputy Minister of Justice said at the time. — A proposal to approve a methodology for determining the amount of collateral has been discussed for a long time. However, the circumstances to be taken into account when establishing a pledge, such as the identity of the suspect, the property status of the pledgor, are subjective.
In February 2025, Irina Podnosova, who served as Chairman of the Supreme Court, announced the development of such changes to the legislation, speaking at the annual meeting of judges.
"The implementation of systematic and consistent measures aimed at humanizing criminal legislation leads to a consistently high number of petitions for release from punishment or commutation of punishment as a result of the issuance of a retroactive criminal law," she pointed out. — Last year, the courts considered more than 15,000 such petitions.
Formally, bail is a real alternative to arrest, but in practice it is either not offered, or impossibly large sums are assigned, lawyer and human rights activist Ekaterina Alexandrovich added. As a result, many of the accused end up in custody, despite the lack of a real risk.
In real practice, bail is used mainly for economic crimes, including those involving property damage, illegal financial transactions or business violations, said Sofya Lukinova, head of the Legal Department at VMT Consult.
"In such cases, courts are more likely to consider bail, since the accused are usually socially rooted, are not associated with violent crimes and are able to compensate for damage," she said. — However, even in this category of cases, bail is rarely granted, and it does not have a real statistical base comparable in scale to other preventive measures.
At the same time, bail is chosen for a maximum of two months, and if such a measure is not necessary, it should be extended in court, added Evgenia Privalova, lawyer of Lobutev & Partners ICA.
How will the approach to collateral change
The problem of using bail in Russia has persisted for a long time, as it is used less frequently than representatives of the accused would like, said Vladislav Bezushkevich, a lawyer at Criminal Defense Firm.
"The main problems with the use of bail are related to the subjectivity of assessing the suspect's personality and property status, as well as the lack of a clear methodology for determining the amount of bail," she explained. — Courts and investigators prefer to use more stringent measures, such as detention, as they give greater control over the accused.
There is also an organizational factor: the mechanism for monitoring compliance with bail conditions is much less formalized than monitoring house arrest or pre-trial detention, Ekaterina Bespalova added.
— Everything has been built into the system there for a long time, there remains uncertainty, — she noted. — In conditions when the court assesses risks, it is uncertainty that most often pushes for the choice of a more stringent measure. As a result, the effect of a "disappeared measure" arises: the pledge is in the law, but in reality it is almost never applied. And it's not related to the type of crime.
According to Alexey Gavrishev, a lawyer and managing partner of AVG Legal, in most cases the investigator does not even file such a petition, because it is easier and safer for him to request an arrest, and it is easier for the court to agree to it.
"If bail is granted, it is without clear restrictions, without clear logic — therefore, the measure formally exists, but in fact it is rarely and inconsistently applied," he confirmed. — Add here a chaotic definition of the amount: one court takes the amount of damages, the other — "by inner conviction," and as a result, there are no uniform rules.
Tying a pledge to the amount of damage turns it into an effective mechanism for compensation for harm, Ekaterina Bespalova notes. This is a direct incentive to comply with the conditions of the preventive measure: a person actually "holds on" to the amount that can be sent to the victim. An additional effect is created by the proposed design of combining collateral with procedural restrictions.
"Such a two—level model — a property obligation plus restrictions on behavior — makes bail a full—fledged alternative to house arrest, and in some cases even a more effective measure," the expert believes. — Financial responsibility encourages compliance with the rules no less than the risk of isolation.
According to Vladislav Bezushkevich, the initiative of the Ministry of Justice is expected, such proposals have been considered for several years, as they reflect the need to reduce the burden on pre-trial detention facilities.
"However, it is difficult to say whether such measures will actually benefit," she said. — There is an opinion that it is better to limit a person's freedom than to be responsible for running away.
The amendments of the Ministry of Justice can change the situation only if the investigative authorities and the courts at the state level are given a clear task to apply this measure, Evgeniya Privalova emphasized. For the first time, a clear set of restrictions can be prescribed in the law, which will make the pledge a controlled measure, Alexey Gavrishev believes.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Justice with a request to clarify the purpose of the amendments and how they should affect the application of bail in courts.
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