Russian President signs law on amendments to Russian criminal code in relation to bribery of arbitrators
Maxim Kulkov (Managing Partner) and Sergey Lysov (Senior Associate), KK&P
On 27 October 2020, the Russian President signed Law No. 352-FZ “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation”. The law aims, for the first time, to criminalise bribery of domestic and foreign arbitrators. It was introduced by a group of parliament members on the recommendation of the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), following its assessment of Russian legislation and anti-corruption practices.
The law establishes liability for anyone bribing an arbitrator with a fine of up to RUB400,000 (approximately ?4,000), as well as placing certain restrictions on freedom, imprisonment of up to two years or correctional labour for the same period.
Corruption including particularly large sums of money, that is more than RUB1 million (approximately ?10,000), will lead to a fine of between RUB1 million and RUB2.5 million (approximately ?10,000 to ?25,000). Further, any person found bribing an arbitrator will be deprived of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities (which may include participation in arbitral proceedings as arbitrator) for up to five years.
Arbitrators that have accepted a bribe will be penalised with a fine of up to RUB700,000 (approximately ?7,000) or imprisonment for up to three years. In cases of bribery in the amount of more than RUB1 million, arbitrators will be fined between RUB2 million and RUB5 million (approximately ?20,000 to ?50,000). They may also be deprived of the right to hold certain positions (most likely, performing the role of the arbitrator) or imprisonment from six to 12 years.
The law will enter into force on 7 November 2020, that is ten days since its official publication on 27 October 2020.
You can find the link to the full text of the article here.
Reproduced from Practical Law Arbitration with the permission of the publishers. For further information visit www.practicallaw.com or call 020 7542 6664.