The Committee on Press and Interaction with Mass Media of the Government of Saint-Petersburg (the Committee), considered the sign placed by one of our clients (a company) as advertising and imposed administrative liability in the form of fine.
However, the Committee did not take into account that the company we represented is a small business entity, and in this regard, the liability for the first administrative offense should be replaced by a warning.
This rule is determined by Article 4.1.1 of the Administrative Code. During the court proceedings (case A56-136215/2018) in the Arbitration court of Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad Region, the fact that the offense took place was not disputed, the defense was based on the fact that the legal entity, our client, should be considered a small business and had not committed such offenses before.
As a result, the fine was replaced by a warning.
