MOSCOW, July 7 (RAPSI) – The Supreme Court of Russia is drafting a bill extending the institute of criminal misdemeanor to minor and medium economic crimes, Chair of the highest instance Vyacheslav Lebedev said during the plenary meeting of the Council of Judges on Tuesday.

The initiative is to be submitted to the State Duma this year, he added.

Currently, the lower house of parliament considers the Supreme Court’s bill fixing the term of a criminal misdemeanor.

The Supreme Court of Russia filed a bill introducing a new term, criminal misdemeanor, to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, with the State Duma in December 2018. According to the draft law, a criminal offense of a low gravity, which can’t result in a prison term, is to be considered as a criminal misdemeanor.