There are many anecdotes about family scandals. Films are made and books are written about the feuds between husband and wife. It would seem that no matter how old the history of mankind is, there is so much violence against close relatives.
However, it becomes not funny at all when such trouble actually comes to the house. And verbal scandals are one thing, and physical violence is another. If a husband beats his wife, this can negatively affect not only her health, but also cause death.
What threatens such a spouse under Ukrainian laws? Fine or imprisonment? How to punish him and can a wife write a statement and imprison her husband? And if so, how much do they give for beating?
What is the article for beating your wife?
If the violence had consequences that fall under the Criminal Code, then sanctions for such acts may be appropriate. There is no need to prescribe in detail the punishments for all possible articles, because It would be necessary to transfer a good half of the Criminal Code into this material.
At the same time, there are special measures in the legislation that directly relate to domestic violence:
- Article 1261 of the Criminal Code, which implies punishment for domestic violence.
- The Law “On Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence” (hereinafter referred to as the Law), establishing measures for prevention, prevention, emergency response and mitigation of consequences.
- “The procedure for issuing an urgent restraining order against an offender by authorized units of the National Police of Ukraine,” approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Based on these regulations, punishment may develop (reaction of law enforcement agencies). This is a fairly broad list of measures, the main of which are:
| Normative act | What will happen? |
| Article 1261 of the Criminal Code | From 150 hours of community service to 5 years of restriction or 2 years of imprisonment. |
| Relevant laws and orders | A ban on cohabitation, eviction, a ban on approaching a spouse and other measures that we will consider in more detail below. |
All these norms can operate both in conjunction with other provisions of legislation, and separately.
What does a husband face for domestic violence? What is the punishment under Art. 126-1 CC?
It has already been mentioned that the Criminal Code of Ukraine contains a separate article 1261 on domestic violence. It provides:
- Community service from 150 to 240 hours.
- Arrest - up to six months.
- Restriction of freedom – up to 5 years.
- Imprisonment – up to 2 years.
The severity of the punishment imposed by the court depends on the severity of the consequences of domestic violence. Moreover, if the consequences fall under other articles of the code, their norms (beatings, bodily injuries, murder) can also be applied, regardless of the status of the relationship between the victim and the suspect.
Legislation to prevent domestic battery
If the acts fall under the criminal articles described above, then the procedures are carried out in accordance with the procedure established by criminal procedural legislation. However, there are also separate specialized norms - the already mentioned Law and internal orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It was the need for quick response and the opportunity to prevent crime that pushed legislators to adopt the Law. Indeed, in the case of, for example, violent actions by strangers towards each other, there is the possibility of lengthy proceedings (investigation, trial, verdict), and when living together, aggression can be constantly provoked.
In accordance with the Law, to resolve the issue of domestic violence and wife beating, as a special case, the following may be involved (Article 6 of the Law):
- specially created bodies;
- victim support services;
- citizens and foreigners;
- local authorities;
- social services;
- human rights organizations;
- prosecutor's office;
- courts;
- national police units.
If social and human rights organizations can be involved as means of prevention or response, the prosecutor's office and the courts can be involved in responding to a crime within the framework of their powers, then the functions of the police are significantly expanded by this law, and they are of the greatest interest.
In accordance with Article 10 of the Law, the police have the right :
- Identify and respond to facts of beating.
- Receive statements and messages on this topic.
- Bring to the attention of victims their rights and possible measures of influence on the offender.
- Keep a record of potential offenders.
- Monitor the implementation of assigned measures by offenders.
- Cancel permission to use weapons and ammunition, as well as confiscate them in accordance with the established procedure.
- Issue urgent restraining orders .
The list also includes reporting, interaction with other structures, etc., but within the framework of the measures of influence under consideration, prohibitory orders are of the greatest interest. Let's consider them separately.
Prohibition orders
First of all, it is necessary to identify the difference between a restraining order and an urgent restraining order.
The first is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the court, and may also be related to cases of wife beating. The second - urgent - is within the powers of the police and can be applied immediately.
Judicial
Such a restraining order may be issued by the court at the initiative of the injured wife or her representative.
Among such instructions there may be (one or more, on the basis of clause 2 of Article 26 of the Law) prohibitions:
- To be in a place of common residence with the victim.
- Limitations of personal communication.
- For remote communication (telephone, messages, etc.).
- To approach the victim closer than a certain distance.
- To search for and establish contacts with his wife through third parties.
The initial ban is issued by the court for a period of 1 to 6 months and can be extended by it, but for a period of no more than six months after the end of the initial restraining order.
Police
This document is called an urgent restraining order , and can be drawn up by a police officer if a threat to the life or health of the victim is established (Article 25 of the Law). The purpose of such an order is to immediately stop possible violence.
Acceptable measures:
- The requirement to immediately leave the victim’s place of residence.
- A ban on any contact with his wife.
- Prohibition to enter and stay at the spouse’s place of residence.
Please note that neither the provisions of the Law nor the norms of orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs limit the use of these measures, even if the offender is registered at this address or has no other home.
To perform their functions, the police have the right to use police coercive measures necessary to evict the offender (paragraph 2, paragraph 3, article 25 of the Law), and the police can enter the housing without a court decision if they consider that there is a danger to the life or health of the victim ( paragraph 2, clause 2, article 10 of the Law).
A police officer can issue an urgent restraining order at the request of the victim, as well as on his own initiative , if he considers it necessary (clause 5 of Article 25 of the Law), and the period of such an order cannot be more than 10 days (clause 6 of the same article).
Eviction measures cannot be applied to minor offenders (clause 10 ibid.).
Criminal liability for beating by ex-husband
If we are talking about a criminal act, then the status of the relationship of the spouses does not matter - if there is evidence of a crime, the case must be opened.
But even when using other norms, the presence of a divorce does not matter, because Clause 2, Clause 2, Article 3 of the Law extends the effect of these norms to former spouses , and Clause 3 of the same article states, among other things, about “people connected by a common life,” i.e. can also be applied in cases of civil marriage .
What is the essence of the law on the decriminalization of domestic violence?
Law No. 8-FZ, adopted on January 27, 2022, contains amendments to Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is dedicated to minor beatings that do not cause significant harm to health. After such slaps, slaps, and slaps on the head, a person does not seek medical help. The victim suffers only short-term pain. The victim does not lose his ability to work even for a short time. In the old version of Article 116 of the Criminal Code there was a mention that it establishes liability for beatings against loved ones. These people include:
- children;
- parents;
- Grandmothers and grandfathers;
- spouses, including common-law spouses;
- stepmothers and stepfathers;
- stepdaughters and stepsons.
Important! In the new Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the mention of close people has been removed. Thus, in accordance with the adopted amendments, citizens can no longer be held accountable for light beatings of relatives.
Offenses under this article that do not have qualifying characteristics were transferred to the category of administrative ones. Criminal penalties for them were abolished. Now, if a family member who has suffered a beating writes a statement to the police, the guilty person will receive punishment only for an administrative violation. His actions are not subject to criminal liability. An important condition for decriminalization was that such cases should be one-time. If the beatings are repeated within one calendar year, the domestic tyrant will be punished under a criminal article. It is only necessary to testify to all the facts of the beating.
Criticism of the Law
The Ukrainian legal community often hears critical statements about the provisions of the Law and related regulations. The main complaints are related precisely to the mechanism of an urgent restraining order - it is suspected of having a possible corruption component.
On the one hand, emergency measures are necessary because... can stop violence. On the other hand, lawyers fear that forced evictions could be used for malicious purposes.
In our opinion, at the moment there is not enough practical material to draw clear conclusions. Everything will become clear over time. For now, let us clarify that a person against whom an urgent restraining order has been issued has the right to challenge it in court on grounds common to challenging any police actions (clause 9 of Article 25 of the Law).
Bringing husband to justice for assault
From all of the above, we can derive an approximate sequence of actions for the victim, which will directly depend on the degree of seriousness of the offense:
- Call the police.
- A message about the circumstances of what happened (is happening).
- Police measures to prevent further violence, incl. entering a home if they are not allowed in voluntarily, issuing an urgent restraining order, taking measures to evict the offender.
- Writing a statement to the police about the beating.
- Record the beatings. We wrote separately about how to film it.
- Submitting an application to the ERDR.
- Pre-trial investigation.
- Trial.
- Court verdict/judgment.
In cases of non-serious consequences, the process can be stopped at step No. 3. At the same time, in order to prevent domestic violence, the abuser can be included in the “Unified State Register of Cases of Domestic Violence and Gender-Based Violence” (Article 16 of the Law), and the police and other authorities carry out systematic preventive actions to prevent relapse.
What to do if a husband beats his wife?
If a wife is beaten by her husband, one must not hesitate to forgive. One hit yesterday in a bad mood can turn fatal today.
First you need to decide where to go in such a situation. There are many authorities in the country, but you should start with the lowest and most accessible.
The victim's procedure should be as follows:
- Immediately after a family conflict, you should go to the emergency room;
- There, go through an inspection and receive a stamped original certificate;
- With this certificate, you must go to the police station to write and submit an application.
You have the right by law to apply to any police department, but it is better to apply at the place where the incident occurred.
Drawing up an application
The application must be written in two copies in order to control the time frame for its consideration by law enforcement agencies.
On the second copy, the police officer must mark acceptance. In addition, you must be given a notification coupon with information about the receipt of a response to the consideration of the application.
The application should be drawn up according to the following rules:
- Submit to the Chief of Police;
- Provide your contact details for communication;
- Give out all the information about your abuser;
- Describe in detail the circumstances of the conflict;
- Express a request to initiate a criminal case;
- Indicate that you have been warned of liability for knowingly false denunciation.
When the wife has written a statement, the police are obliged to check the circumstances of the case stated in it . The police can either open a criminal case or administrative case, or refuse to open a case. In the latter case, the husband will be given a warning and registered.
If the police officer’s refusal to initiate a case seems unjustified to you, you can contact the prosecutor’s office. They will conduct an investigation and initiate a case. In addition, the prosecutor's office can punish a negligent police officer.
For 2022 according to Art. 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the injured party can independently apply to the court to initiate a criminal case as a private prosecution.
How to prove your husband's guilt?
What to do from a legal point of view when a husband hits his wife? You are required to prove your legal position in court.
An important piece of evidence is a certificate of the beatings removed . But when a wife calls the police at the time of a conflict, she does not have the opportunity to go to the hospital on her own and get a certificate.
At the moment of conflict, when the police arrive, you should ask the employees to call an ambulance to record the beatings.
Of course, if a husband beat his wife half to death, doctors will have no questions about the nature of the injuries. But when the wife suffered minor abrasions and bruises, a delay of 3-4 days in contacting a medical institution may be grounds for refusing to initiate a case.
In addition to the certificate in court, the testimony of witnesses will play more important as evidence . If anyone saw or heard your conflict, these witnesses must be presented in court.
If possible, immediately after the incident, take a photo of yourself with your phone so that the damage is visible. If the blows were inflicted by any object, it is better to immediately remove it so that the husband does not have the opportunity to destroy it.
If you truly believe that you are in danger, you can exercise self-defense. The main thing in this matter is not to exceed its limits, otherwise you yourself will be the defendant in a criminal case, and not your husband.
Family tyranny must be punished to the fullest extent of the law . Decriminalization of an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not mean that husbands now have the right to beat their wives and not be held responsible for it.
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will forgive them only a single episode of beatings. For a second similar offense, the offender will face a more severe punishment.
There is no need to endure torture and beatings, you need to protect your rights and not put your children at risk.
