Will prisoners soon be released en masse from prisons?

The Concept for Reforming the Criminal Justice System and Law Enforcement Agencies, signed by the President of Ukraine, provides for the humanisation of national legislation.
As reported by an UNIAN correspondent, this was stated today at a briefing by the Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Ihor Pukshyn.
In particular, he noted that the concept provides for the reform of criminal law, criminal procedure law, the reform of the criminal executive service, and the reform of law enforcement agencies.
Speaking about the reform of criminal law, I. Pukshyn noted that it is planned to divide criminal offences into two types: crimes and criminal misdemeanours.
According to him, the difference will lie in the fact that for criminal crimes, criminal responsibility and a criminal record for the person will follow, while for criminal misdemeanours, there will be no criminal record. “A portion of criminal law offences will be reclassified into the category of criminal misdemeanours due to their minor severity,” said I. Pukshyn.
According to him, as of today, almost 28,000 inmates are behind bars for committing minor crimes, and if the corresponding amendments to the Criminal Code are introduced, a significant portion of them will be released from punishment.
“In essence, the humanisation of criminal legislation is envisaged,” emphasised I. Pukshyn.
He is convinced that the main element of the concept is the reform of the criminal procedure legislation, which has been in effect since 1961.
According to him, a new philosophy of criminal prosecution is being laid down. In particular, the only institution that will establish whether information is evidence in a criminal case will be the court. It is also proposed to abandon the institution of sending a criminal case by the court for additional investigation.
As the Deputy Head of the Secretariat said, the corresponding amendments envisage that criminal prosecution will be carried out by the following bodies: the tax police, the national police, the military police, a separate unit of the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) that will conduct investigations, and it is also planned to create an anti-corruption body.
I. Pukshyn added that an entirely new draft law on the creation of an anti-corruption body has been developed in the Presidential Secretariat. He suggested that the President will submit this draft law for the consideration of the Verkhovna Rada in the near future.