The Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee discussed for the I reading the legal initiative of the Government, the Draft Criminal Code.

Pursuant to the Draft, the illegal use of the timber woods shall be subject to stringent penalties, specifically, replacing the administrative liability with criminal measures.

In line with the amendments, the installment of the round timber (logs) and/or heat treatment device in the sawmills without the registration shall be subject to stringent criminal liability - the detention of 1-3 years instead of 1-year detention, and the repeated offense - the detention of 2-5 years instead of 1-2 years.

An amendment is also introduced to the remark of the same Article, in accordance with which, the term of the deprivation of the operation right in the responsibility part of the legal entity shall be extended from 3 to 5 years.

Furthermore, the term “illegal logging of brushwood”, which, at a contextual level, is quite a narrow concept, shall be replaced with the terms “illegal logging of timber plants” and “logging in high quantities”.

According to the reporter, the First Deputy Environmental Protection and Agriculture Minister, Nino Tandilashvili, stricter liability for illegal logging will have a dampening effect, which will mitigate the offensive actions in this domain.

A respective amendment, stemming from the Draft, is being introduced to the Administrative Offenses Code. The Committee endorsed the legal initiatives.