Punishment for Owners of Abandoned Land

Yesterday’s meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian Policy examined the proposals to amend the Criminal Code and the Code of Administrative Offences. The changes provide increased penalties for inefficient use of land. According to independent experts, it will violate the right to land ownership of poor villagers.

According to the proposed amendments to the legislation, for violation of the right to land ownership enshrined by the law, for unauthorized seizure, illegal fencing, plowing, carrying out construction and installation work on the land, as well as other methods preventing the use of these lands, penalties will be applied in the amount of 1,500 manats.

Also envisaged is community service from 240 to 400 hours and a year of corrective labor or imprisonment.

"According to Article 188 of the Penal Code, if it comes to agricultural land, then, respectively, a penalty will be applied as a fine of 3,000 – 5,000 manats, or public works or imprisonment for two years. In case of repeated breaches of the law there will be tougher punishment as a fine of AZN 5,000 – AZN 7,000 or imprisonment for one to three years," the document proposed for discussion at the session of Milli Majlis reads. --17D-