Armenian Parliament Approves Bill to Increase Penalties for Pickpocketing

The National Assembly of Armenia has approved in the first reading a draft law that proposes amendments and additions to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which also includes transitioning pickpocketing from a private accusation to a public one. The bill was presented at the parliamentary session on September 13 by Deputy Minister of Justice Anna Vardanyan.

“This is the draft that proposes to establish responsibility for pickpocketing as an independent part under Article 177 of the Criminal Code, thereby moving cases of pickpocketing from the realm of private accusation to public prosecution. We are also addressing another important issue with the bill, clarifying the 'theft' concept in such a way that the significant amount will not be a mandatory feature for qualifying an act as theft,” said Vardanyan.

Currently, the definition in the Criminal Code states that theft is the secret appropriation of someone else’s property in significant amounts. The Deputy Minister noted that an act cannot be qualified as committed under aggravating circumstances, for example, when entering a residence, if the elements of a public crime are not present in the act.

“And in practice, there are many instances where a person enters a residence and, due to circumstances beyond their control, cannot steal a significant amount, such as an amount reaching 30,000 drams; therefore, the act cannot be considered theft committed under aggravating circumstances. The draft we propose addresses this issue,” added the Deputy Minister.

The bill proposes to enrich the code with new content, stating that theft is the secret appropriation of another’s property. It also proposes to include theft of items in a person’s possession, as well as theft committed from a person's clothing or belongings, including from pockets, bags, or any other object close to the person.

If adopted, the draft is expected to increase the effectiveness of combating various forms of theft, with commensurate penalties, and will eliminate the prevailing atmosphere of impunity.