The Criminal Law Practice team of EPAM Law Firm summarizes the results of 2025 and presents an overview of key changes and trends in criminal and criminal procedure legislation.

In 2025, the legislator continued the course toward criminalizing actions that had previously been regarded only as methods of committing or concealing crimes. In particular, separate criminal liability has been introduced for the unlawful circulation of electronic payment instruments (dropper activities), SIM cards, and account credentials, and the use of VPN services has been classified as an aggravating circumstance.

A long-awaited development was the establishment by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of an interim procedure for considering, within criminal proceedings, issues related to lifting the seizure of property belonging to a debtor undergoing bankruptcy. This represents a step toward resolving a long-standing conflict associated with the absence of a mechanism for including such property in the bankruptcy estate.

Overall, the changes reflect modern realities and address current priorities, including budget replenishment, combating economic crimes, and strengthening national sovereignty, including in the field of criminal justice.

At the same time, certain amendments were aimed at strengthening criminal procedural safeguards.

Among the most notable developments:

• The powers of investigators have been expanded, granting them the right to suspend account transactions for up to 10 days without a court order;
• The application of detention as a preventive measure for economic crimes has been limited;
• Safeguards under the special procedure for initiating criminal cases involving tax evasion have been strengthened;
• Liability for sabotage and anti-Russian crimes has been increased.
• We hope that this overview will be useful and valuable in practical work.

This material is prepared solely for informational and/or educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice or a legal opinion. EPAM Law Firm, its management, attorneys, and employees cannot guarantee the applicability of this information for your specific purposes and shall not be liable for any decisions made or for any direct or indirect losses and/or damages arising from the use of the information contained in these materials or any part thereof.