In certain situations, instead of the indictment, the prosecutor can file with the court a motion for conditional discontinuance of the proceedings against the suspect, on the basis of Article 336 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Such a motion can also be lodged by the defendant already after submission of the indictment to court.
The result of conditional discontinuance of the proceedings is not conviction of the perpetrator, but identification of the perpetrator and pronouncement of his or her guilt - in this case, the court delivers the judgement which conditionally discontinues the proceedings and the perpetrator is pronounced guilty, but this is not equal to conviction.
An advantage of conditional discontinuance of the proceedings is the fact that no penalty for the perpetrator's offence is adjudicated, but a probationary period of one to two years is decreed (the court may impose certain obligations on the perpetrator in this period).
Conditional discontinuance of the proceedings is subject to relatively quick expungement and is removed for the National Criminal Record (after 6 months from the end of the probationary period). A requirement for granting the motion for conditional discontinuance of the proceedings by the court is proving the existence of the following premises:
- A given offence is not subject to a penalty higher than 5 years of imprisonment.
- Perpetrator's guilt and social harm of the act are not large.
- Circumstances of committing the act do not raise doubts.
- The perpetrator has not been punished before for an intentional offence.
- The perpetrator's personal qualities and characteristics, as well as his or her conduct and way of life justify the belief that he or she is going to obey law in the future, and in particular that he or she shall not commit an offence again.
[Legal status as at July 2015]