What is the fine for drinking alcohol in a public place?

Fine for drinking alcohol in a public place - a mandatory measure of influence aimed at preventing such violations, prescribed in the Code of Administrative Offenses and a number of Federal Laws. The law establishes that financial punishment can range from 500-1500 rubles. At the same time, the territories in which the consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited are specified. The exception mainly concerns the consumption of alcohol at home, as well as in places specially designed for these purposes (cafes, restaurants, etc.).

• Law
• What drinks are considered alcoholic?
• Amount of fine
• Where you can't drink alcohol
• How to check if you have a fine
• How to pay a fine
• When must the fine be paid?
• Methods of protection
• Time limit for the sale of alcoholic beverages

Position of the law

According to statistics, the Russian Federation is in sixth place among all countries in the world in terms of alcohol consumption. According to information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 50% of all crimes are committed by people who are drunk. The introduction of a fine is aimed at reducing such “activity” and, accordingly, reducing the number of criminal acts.

This issue is regulated by the following documents:

• Federal Law No. 171 (list of places where drinking is prohibited);
• Code of Administrative Offenses (Article 20.20) - the amount of the fine;
• RF PP No. 1344.

Legislative acts

The official government document regulating places for drinking alcohol is the Code of the Russian Federation, indicating administrative violations and Law No. 171-FZ.

The point about the consumption of beer and other types of alcohol is in article of the Code of Administrative Offenses under number 20.20. The same article contains information on possible fines that executive authorities may impose for violations provided for in paragraph 7 of Article 16 of Law No. 171-FZ.

Admin Code violations of the Russian Federation (Administrative Code) No. 195-FZ of December 30, 2001, as amended in 2021.

Law No. 171-FZ “On State regulation of the sale, production and consumption of alcoholic beverages" dated November 22, 1995 with current amendments and additions for 2021

Alcoholic drinks

When considering which drinks are classified as alcoholic, it is worth noting the broadness of this term. In particular, alcoholic drinks include all products that contain at least part of ethyl alcohol - beer, cider, wine, drinks with 0.5% ethanol, etc. For convenience, several groups of alcoholic drinks are distinguished:

1. low alcohol - beer, cider;
2. medium-alcohol drinks - mead, wine;
3. strong alcoholic drinks - cognac, vodka.

Many citizens mistakenly believe that beer is not alcohol. This stereotype leads to problems with law enforcement agencies and fines.

Only those products that contain less than 0.5% do not qualify as alcoholic beverages. They cannot be punished for them.

What is meant by public place?

The concept of “Public place” appears in several articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. These are premises or areas that citizens can visit regularly and without hindrance. However, the legislation does not have a clear definition of this term; the articles of the Code list the signs and characteristics that distinguish a public place:

• structures, sites, buildings, territories that are not private property (a dorm room, an apartment, a country house are not public places);
• objects and territories that do not have access restrictions for any people or groups of people (a fenced and guarded construction site is not a public place);
• Any person can appear in such a place without prior approval and without the need to obtain any permission.

Public place

Thus, public places include urban facilities (streets, parks, courtyards, etc.), institutions that provide services to the population (kindergartens, schools, institutes, clinics, sports facilities, cinemas, municipal services, cafes, restaurants) , transport infrastructure facilities (public transport, bus stops, train stations).

In addition, public places include temporary and permanent real estate where citizens are located whose rights may be violated as a result of illegal actions. Thus, the answer to the question of whether an entrance or, for example, a staircase of an apartment building is a public place, will be positive.

How much will you have to pay

The size of the fine depends on many factors - the type of drink consumed, the location of the violation, the condition, etc. Financial punishment is imposed for the consumption of any alcohol-containing products in a public place, with the exception of products with an ethanol volume of less than 0.5% (for example, non-alcoholic beer). To attract punishment, it is enough to detect the fact of taking alcohol-containing products.

For 2021, liability for drinking alcoholic beverages in public places is as follows (according to the Code of Administrative Offenses, Article 20.20):

• alcohol products - 500-1500 rubles;
• drugs or psychotropic substances - 4000-5000 rubles. or arrest for a period of up to 15 days.

If the offense is committed by a foreign citizen, he is also punished by having to pay 4000-5000 rubles, and in more severe cases by arrest for up to 15 days or deportation from the territory of the Russian Federation. If minors are noticed for the violation, the mother/father or guardians are responsible, and you will have to pay 4000-5000 rubles . Any court decision regarding financial responsibility can be challenged in a judicial body.

The degree of guilt is determined by the law enforcement officer at the scene of the offense. It sets the fine taking into account the following factors:

1. general condition of a person;
2. nature of guilt;
3. place of detention;
4. presence of similar violations in the past.

If a violation is detected, a protocol is drawn up, and after consideration of the case, official prosecution occurs. Today there is talk about increasing the minimum liability from 500 to 5,000 rubles, but so far they are only at the consideration stage.

If alcoholic beverages were drunk by a person under 18 years of age in the company of adults, the latter may also be held accountable. If a person who has reached the age of 18 contributes to the drugging of a minor, he or she will be charged a fine of 100 to 500 rubles. The higher the strength of the drink, the higher the amount of financial punishment. In addition, the amount of punishment increases if there are negative consequences from such actions.

Where you can't drink alcohol

Federal Law No. 171 (Article 16) examines the concept of “public places” and provides a list of such facilities (those where the sale and consumption of alcohol-containing products is prohibited). Let's highlight the main places:

• educational institutions (secondary schools, universities, lyceums, gymnasiums, etc.);
• places of work of individual entrepreneurs providing educational services;
• hospitals (private, public);
• sports grounds;
• gas station;
• wholesale and retail markets;
• places of work of cultural organizations;
• transport (bus, train, train, etc.);
• stopping places for such transport;
• at the place of work;
• military installations;
• places where large numbers of people gather;
• objects with sources of high danger;
• airports, train stations;
• other public places.

A person can be punished with a fine even in a situation where the place of drinking is not considered public.

Is it allowed to drink in the car?

In judicial practice, you can find many cases of deprivation of drivers' licenses for drinking strong drinks inside a car, even if it is a parked car. A vehicle, with the exception of public city transport, does not belong to public crowded places. In fact, by law it is quite possible to drink alcohol inside your own car, while observing a number of requirements:

• availability of access to the vehicle, i.e. no break-in;
• the car engine is turned off, no trip is planned;
• the person or people in the car are in adequate condition, without alcohol abuse.

In the absence of violations, the inspector should not and has no right to make any demands. However, in certain cases, and not only Moscow is famous for this, arbitrariness is observed: the owner of the car, while inside his own property, is deprived of his driver's license, subject to a fine and other illegal actions by law enforcement officers. To avoid such a situation, it is necessary to think through a plan of action in advance when police or traffic police officers appear.

If there is a passenger in the car, he can act as a witness on the driver's side. Otherwise, the car owner has the right to call friends or acquaintances in order to communicate with a representative of the law in their presence. It is also worth warning that the recording is being made using a voice recorder or video recorder.

By law, a driver is a person who is driving a car, and not just occupying the driver’s seat . A lawful penalty can only be imposed when drinking alcohol while driving or driving while intoxicated. Being drunk in a parked car is not an offense in any way, except in cases of break-in or disorderly conduct.

Where to see the fine

To ensure that a financial penalty has been imposed, you must personally appear at the police station to clarify the circumstances or go to the FSSP website. The latter option is more convenient, because it allows you to get information from home. The algorithm is like this:

1. Log in to the FSSP offsite;
2. go to the tab about information on enforcement proceedings;
3. select the option of submitting the application - by mail, through the MFC, with the involvement of an authorized structure, in person or online;
4. wait for a decision on the application, which is accepted within 17 days.

There is no need to pay for the service. To submit an application, you must register in advance on the State Services website. To do this, you will need your passport number, phone number and e-mail address. This information will be used to log into various government electronic services. If you need information about imposing a fine quickly, then it is better to go to the police in person.

Procedure for bringing to responsibility

If a police officer notices a drunk person in the wrong place, he finds out all the circumstances, personal information about the offender, and then draws up a protocol containing the following information :

• Full name of the authorized person who compiled the document;
• Full name of the offender, his residential address in accordance with his passport data (if the person did not have an identification document with him, he can be taken to the police station);
• the essence of the offense indicating the relevant articles of the law;
• the person’s explanations, his signature, a note about the delivery of a photocopy of the protocol.

Next, the violator is issued a fine, which must be paid within 2 months.

How to pay a fine

To transfer the required amount, the violator is issued a receipt. It contains all the information on the details where the money needs to be transferred. But what if the check is lost or for some reason the data on it is not readable? In such a situation, you will still have to pay money. There are several methods available here:

1. Sberbank (cash desk). To make a payment, it is enough to know the name of the government agency that issued the fine. This information must be provided to a Sberbank employee and the type of violation must be indicated. An employee of a banking institution issues a form where you need to enter personal information and the amount of penalties. Next, all that remains is to transfer the funds to the cashier and take a receipt indicating the fact of payment.
2. Terminal. To use this method, you need to know the resolution number. To pay, you need to insert a bank card and go to the “Payment of fines” section. If you don't have plastic, you can pay in cash. Before making a payment, carefully fill out the fields to avoid errors in entering personal information.
3. Sberbank Online. In this case, you need to register in the service, go to your personal account and select “payments” to make a payment. Next, go to the “Operations” section, fill out the fields provided, write down the resolution number and the amount of payment. After confirming the transaction, you need to print a receipt.

Alternatively, you can use another online service, for example, Tinkoff online banking. When choosing this option, you need to go to your account, enter the “Payments and Transfers” section, and there find the payment section by details. After entering the information and checking that it is correct, payment must be made. To see that the payment went through, you need to go to history.

Payment of the fine can be made in any convenient way. The main thing is that after making the payment, you have a receipt at hand indicating that the money has been transferred.

Available terms

According to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Article 32.2, Part 1), two months are given to pay the fine for drinking alcohol-containing products in public places. The countdown begins from the moment the offender signs the protocol or from the end of the deferment (if it was established taking into account the Code of Administrative Offenses, Article 31.5).

If a person does not pay the fine within the allotted time, his case is transferred to the FSSP. Further actions will depend on the amount of the financial penalty and the seriousness of the violation. Various enforcement measures are possible here - a ban on leaving the country, seizure of bank accounts, a ban on transactions with personal real estate, etc.

If a person drank alcohol on a playground or in another prohibited place, but did not pay the fine on time, the amount of the financial penalty is doubled. For example, if you first had to pay 1,500 rubles, then after the delay the debt increases to 3,000 rubles. In some cases, the offender may be arrested.

Methods of protection

An equally important point is how to avoid a fine for drinking alcohol in a public place. According to the law, a person has the right to protect his interests in a judicial body. This is allowed only in a situation where a law enforcement officer made serious mistakes when filling out the protocol. For example, when a document does not contain personal information about a person or there is not enough evidence of guilt to impose a fine under the Code of Administrative Offences.

If the violator is guilty but refuses to pay the money, the case is heard in court. To start the process, filing a claim is enough. The latter can be issued by a witness who has suffered from the actions of the offender. After considering the case, the court issues a verdict, which sets the amount of the fine to be paid.

After this, FSSP workers take over the case, receive a writ of execution from the court and take legal measures against the violator. Proceedings in court can be carried out in relation to persons of different age categories - before and after 18 years. If the offender has not reached the age of majority, parents or guardians are held accountable.

Sometimes it is possible to avoid receiving a fine for drinking alcohol if you hire a qualified lawyer for help. But such support is not always relevant, because the size of the fine is not commensurate with the costs of obtaining the services of a lawyer.

What responsibility is there?

Articles of the current legislation for being in a public place while intoxicated have many nuances. You must understand that situations when a drunk person can be held accountable under any article arise all the time. People celebrating something at home or in a cafe go home. They go outside, get on the subway, or wait for the bus at a stop. At this moment, they all automatically fall into the category of violators.

To avoid misunderstandings, the legislation contains clarifications as to who exactly falls under the definition of “violator”. Anyone who:

• dressed in dirty, smelly clothes;
• behaves noisily, pesters passers-by;
• moves uncertainly, constantly stumbles, touches those passing by, falls;
• tries to sit down or lie down on places not intended for this purpose - lawns, flower beds, garden sculptures, sidewalks;
• behaves inappropriately or aggressively.

If a person has been drinking but behaves calmly and does not cause inconvenience to others, the police have no reason to charge him.

Sale time limit

To reduce the crime rate under this article, the Russian Federation has introduced a ban on the sale of alcoholic products at certain times. Different regions have individual rules on this issue. Most often, the ban applies to night hours in order to reduce the crime rate. In most regions, alcohol cannot be purchased from 23.00 to 8.00 , but in some cities (for example, St. Petersburg, stricter restrictions apply). Here, the purchase of alcohol-containing goods is prohibited from 22.00 to 11.00.

A key role is given to control over the sale of alcoholic products to minors. If you violate the current rules, you may run into financial liability in the form of a fine of 3,000-5,000 rubles. (for the seller), 10,000-20,000 rubles. for a person with a position, from 80,000 to 100,000 rubles. for a legal entity.

Results

The problem of drinking alcoholic beverages is acute in Russian society. This applies to all categories of citizens in different age groups. Previously, more stringent measures in the form of “prohibition” were used to solve the problem, but they did not help eradicate the problem, but only led to the emergence of an underground market for moonshine products.

The introduction of administrative penalties and increased fines makes it possible to keep the situation under control and effectively resolve issues related to drinking alcohol-containing goods in public places. Such activities contributed to a reduction in crime rates.

If a person cannot cope with temptation and still wants to drink, you can go to a cafe or restaurant, or do it at home. In this case, it is possible to evade responsibility. If you drank alcohol in some establishment, on the way home you need to behave decently, keep yourself on your feet and not fall.

An alternative is to wrap the bottle in a plastic bag and drink the drink. But here a lot depends on the rules that are established in the region. If there is no provision in the law prohibiting drinking alcohol from a bottle in a bag, there will be no liability. In this case, you need to behave appropriately.

Drinking beer at the cinema

The legislation does not directly regulate the issues of bringing food and drinks into the cinema, so the actual practice of the corresponding prohibitions conflicts with current laws. If a visitor has any products purchased outside the bar in the establishment, the administration does not have the right not to allow him to attend the session.

Based on Article 25 of the “Rules for Cinema Services to the Public,” the administration has the right to remove a viewer from a film show only in situations where he violates public order or somehow damages the property of the establishment. Accordingly, restrictions on the introduction of any products within the cinema are illegal according to the law. Moreover, attempts to force spectators to purchase relevant goods in the cinema bar by prohibiting the consumption of food and drinks brought with them is a violation of Article 14 of the same Rules.

However, when talking about beer as an alcoholic beverage, one should also take into account paragraph 3 of Article 16 of the Federal Law “On state regulation of the production and circulation of alcoholic products and on limiting its consumption.” In accordance with this regulatory act, a visitor has the right to drink alcohol on the premises of a cinema only if the drink was purchased at the bar of the same establishment. Moreover, the viewer is obliged to drink the purchased beer only at the appropriate place where public catering services are provided, and not to bring it into the cinema hall and consume it there.

Drinking an intoxicating drink directly in the cinema hall is subject to the ban on drinking alcohol in crowded places.