MOSCOW, January 13 (RAPSI) – A bill authorizing penitentiary officials to hand down official warnings has been submitted to the lower house of Russian parliament, according to the State Duma database.

Amendments are proposed to the Law On the Detention of Persons Suspected and Accused of Committing Crimes and the Penitentiary Code of the Russian Federation.

The bill was drafted as existing legislation does not include provisions concerning such powers of penitentiary officials.

Under the draft law, penitentiary officials would be empowered to officially warn suspects and defendants of inadmissibility of actions conditioning offences or crimes and antisocial behavior continuation. If failed to comply with demands set out in the official cautions, violators may be brought to liability in accordance with Russian legislation.

Earlier, in October, President Vladimir Putin signed a bill authorizing police to give citizens official warnings into law. Amendments were introduced into the Law on Police.

The document stipulates that law enforcement officers will be allowed to give citizens binding cautions on the impermissibility of certain actions or antisocial behavior creating conditions for commitment of crimes or offenses, which must be prevented by police.