E/CN.4/2005/62/Add.2 page 20 97. Recommendation (c) stated: Much greater use should be made of existing provisions in the law for release of suspects on bail or on recognizance (signature), especially as regards suspected first-time non-violent offenders. Instructions or guidelines to this effect should be given by the Minister of the Interior to investigators from his Ministry; by the Procurator General to State, regional and local procuratorial investigators and supervisory prosecutors, and by the Minister of Justice and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to all judges handling criminal cases. 98. The Government reported that since 1 July 2002, in connection with the entry into force of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the procedure for choosing remand in custody as a preventive measure (article 108 of the Code) has changed: the preventive measure of remand in custody may be applied only by a court decision. At the same time, the Code of Criminal Procedure provides for the possibility of replacing the preventive measure of remand in custody by release on bail or by another preventive measure. Thus, in accordance with article 106, paragraph 2, of the Code, bail as a preventive measure may be chosen by a court, a procurator, an investigator or a person conducting an initial inquiry, with the consent of the procurator, at any time during the proceedings. In accordance with this preventive measure, the required amount of bail is placed in the court’s deposit account. The type and amount of bail is determined in accordance with the seriousness of the offence, information concerning the personality of the suspect or accused person, and the property status of the person providing the bail. In the past, it was possible to place persons in custody on the sole grounds of the dangerousness of their offences; for example, all types of theft. 99. Recommendation (d) stated: To the extent that the law has been so framed or interpreted as to restrict provisions for release on bail or recognizance to prevent the release of first-time, non-violent suspected offenders as a normal measure, the relevant federal and republican laws should be amended to secure this objective. 100. The Government reported that the entry into force of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation has substantially increased the application, for persons who have committed minor or less serious offences, of non-custodial preventive measures such as bail or recognizance; minors are entrusted to the supervision of their relatives, guardians or other trustworthy persons. A new preventive measure that does not involve custody - house arrest - has been introduced. 101. Recommendation (e) stated: The draft Code of Criminal Procedure, giving effect to article 22 of the Constitution which places all deprivations of freedom under judicial authority, should be speedily adopted by the State Duma. 102. The Government reported that the constitutional provision, according to which arrest, detention and holding in custody shall be permitted only pursuant to a court decision (article 22 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), has been incorporated into procedural legislation. The Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that remand in custody shall be applied only pursuant to a court decision concerning the person suspected or accused of committing offences for which the law provides for punishment in the form of deprivation of liberty for more than two years, and excludes the possibility of applying a milder preventive measure. In exceptional cases, this measure may be chosen for a person suspected or accused of committing an offence punishable by deprivation of liberty for up to two years when such person does not have a permanent place