MOSCOW, June 28 (RAPSI) - The Federal Bailiff Service, which is responsible for monitoring administrative offenders sentenced to compulsory community service, has been given the right to reduce their punishment, Izvestia newspaper reported.

The final decision will rest with the bailiff in charge.

According to the newspaper, the number of working hours can be reduced if the offender provides certified grounds for doing so. 

The bailiff can also reduce the number of working hours per day or postpone them to another day upon request, but without reducing the overall number of compulsory labor hours stipulated in the court ruling. 

A sentence of compulsory labor can only be lifted by a court decision if the offender is officially declared disabled or is gravely ill.

Head of the Federal Bailiff Service Artur Parfyonchikov said these concessions have been made possible as a result of amendments to the federal law on the court enforcement procedure and to several other regulatory acts of April 5, 2013.

Compulsory labor includes community service performed after working or school hours, but lasting no more than four hours on weekends or two hours on weekdays. 

The community service which offenders can be required to perform will depend on the requirements of local authorities, and so bailiffs will need to ask what kind of community service is in need of additional labor in a given city or village.