Plea deals and the special procedure: what they give and the risks

• Two different mechanisms. Special procedure (ch. 40 CPC): you agree with the charge and the court sentences you without examining the evidence. Since 2020 it is only available for minor and medium-gravity offences, where the maximum is up to 5 years (art. 314 CPC, art. 15 CC). Pre-trial cooperation agreement (ch. 40.1 CPC): you undertake to help the investigation, including by testifying about others. It is also possible in grave cases, for example treason.
• What the law promises. The special procedure caps the sentence at two-thirds of the maximum (art. 316 CPC); no appointed lawyer's fee is recovered. A cooperation agreement caps it at half if the court finds a voluntary confession or active assistance and no aggravating factors (art. 62 pt 2 CC). If life is possible, it is excluded and the cap is two-thirds of the maximum (art. 62 pt 4). Treason: up to 13 years 4 months (First Department).
• What the law does not guarantee. The court is not bound by the deal: it checks the conditions and sets the sentence (arts 317.6, 317.7 CPC). The prosecutor can cancel it if you only talked about yourself or refused to speak about others (art. 317.4). If you are later found to have deliberately hidden something important or lied, the verdict is reviewed (art. 317.8). A special-procedure verdict cannot be appealed for contradicting the facts (art. 317 CPC).
• Testifying against others. After your verdict you can be summoned in your co-defendants' case; refusing to testify there breaks the deal (art. 56.1 CPC). The prosecutor must warn you that your statements will be used even if you retract them (art. 317.3). If there is a threat, the deal papers are kept in a sealed envelope (art. 317.4). First Department suggests asking yourself first how you would live with someone you know being jailed on your testimony.
• Sentences in political cases. A deal does not mean a short sentence. According to First Department, the median treason sentence in 2025 was 15 years. A physicist who made a deal in a treason case got 7 years, below the minimum; the scientist he testified against got 14. A defendant in the 'Tyumen case' got 8 years under a deal; almost all the others, tried on his testimony, face 15 to 30 years.
• You can back out. You can withdraw from a deal even after signing, and the law sets no penalty for this. First Department warns that in practice conditions in pre-trial detention may get worse afterwards, for example a ban on calls and visits. It also notes that a deal gives investigators another lever: demanding ever more testimony. Under such pressure people may falsely accuse the innocent.
• How to decide. The request goes in writing to the prosecutor via the investigator and is signed by your lawyer (art. 317.1 CPC). First Department advises weighing benefits and risks and discussing every detail with your lawyer. Kompas does not advise accepting or refusing: decide with your own lawyer. In Belarus a deal requires admitting guilt; the cap is half the maximum, two-thirds for grave crimes against life and health (art. 468.6 CPC, art. 69.1 CC of Belarus).

current as of 26 September 2026. More: Criminal Procedure Code, art. 314: special procedure only for minor and medium offences (in Russian); Criminal Code, art. 15: categories of offences (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 316: at most 2/3 of the maximum, no costs recovered (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 317: limits on appeal after the special procedure (in Russian); Criminal Code, art. 62: sentence caps for deals and the special procedure (in Russian); Criminal Code, art. 275: treason, 12 to 20 years or life (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 317.1: request for a cooperation agreement (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 317.3: what the prosecutor must explain (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 317.4: cancelling the agreement, sealed envelope (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 317.6: when the court applies the agreement procedure (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 317.7: sentencing under an agreement (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 317.8: review of the verdict (in Russian); Criminal Procedure Code, art. 56.1: a person with a cooperation agreement (in Russian); First Department: plea deals, pros, cons and cases (in Russian) (foreign agent); First Department: treason and espionage data for 2025 (in Russian) (foreign agent); Mediazona: 'Isolation, speed and the appointed lawyer' (26 March case, 2017, in Russian) (foreign agent, extremist materials in Belarus); First Department: provocations, including informers in cells (in Russian) (foreign agent); Belarus Criminal Procedure Code, arts 44-47 and ch. 49.1 (pravo.by, in Russian); Belarus Criminal Code, art. 69.1: sentencing under a cooperation agreement (pravo.by, in Russian)