Criminal Penalty Not Involving Convicts Isolation from Society as a
Means of Criminal Counteraction to Crime
Ivan Vladimirovich Dvoryanskov
1a
, Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Maletina
1b
,
Irina Aleksandrovna Lakina
1c
and Lidia Petrovna Pitkevich
1d
1
Research Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Russian Federation
Keywords: Criminal law, criminal means, crime prevention, criminal penalty not involving convicts isolation from
society, reasons for lowering of crime rates, the number of convicts, humanization of legislation, criminal
policy and judicial practice, fines, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions and engage in certain
activities, custodial restraint, community service, correctional labor, compulsory labor, probation,
optimization of punishments associated with bringing convicts to work.
Abstract: Lowering of the crime rate is objectively confirmed by the official statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
of Russia and is due to a complex of criminological reasons, including the observed demographic decline, and
a decrease in the crimes detection (latency increase), a decrease in the personnel of law enforcement bodies,
primarily district inspectors, who are the primary link in the crime prevention system. At the same time, the
decrease in the total number of crimes committed cannot indicate a favorable criminological situation. The
research significance is due to the substantiation of the change in the punitive paradigm in crime fighting, the
substantiation of the greater efficiency and, consequently, the preference for the use of punishments that are
not involving isolation from society in combating crime. In particular, over the past relatively short period,
the development of compulsory labor demonstrates high dynamics. In this regard, legal problems are
identified, including those related to shortcomings in the punishment systematization, it is proposed to
combine punishments involving labor. The research methodology is based on traditional methods of
humanitarian research: dialectical, analysis and synthesis; comparative; technical; sociological; theoretical;
modeling; forecasting. As the results of the research, the article presents a criminological and legal analysis
of the currently observed phenomenon of lowering of crime rates and the number of convicts, especially to
imprisonment. Its reasons are revealed, including interrelated (correlated) processes - the humanization of
legislation, criminal policy and judicial practice.
1 INTRODUCTION
Today, the number of people held in prisons and pre-
trial detention centers in Russia is less than 500,000.
Although a few years ago, the number of people
isolated from society reached a million.
From a social and criminological point of view,
this phenomenon is of very great interest, since,
undoubtedly, it reflects the essential processes taking
place in society, on the one hand, and in the criminal
policy of the state, on the other hand. Their detailed
study is required, firstly, to understand the reasons
a
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0542-5254
b
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5104-0470
c
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5342-2886
d
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2040-0960
and conditions that determine the phenomenon under
consideration, and secondly, to develop proposals for
improving the criminal policy implementation that
supports and enhances the above effect.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
As of February 1, 2021, there were 478,714 people in
the penal system institutions. (-4,118 people by
January 01, 2021).
410
Dvoryanskov, I., Maletina, E., Lakina, I. and Pitkevich, L.
Criminal Penalty Not Involving Convicts Isolation from Society as a Means of Criminal Counteraction to Crime.
DOI: 10.5220/0010645600003152
In Proceedings of the VII International Scientific-Practical Conference “Criminal Law and Operative Search Activities: Problems of Legislation, Science and Practice” (CLOSA 2021), pages
410-414
ISBN: 978-989-758-532-6; ISSN: 2184-9854
Copyright
c
2021 by SCITEPRESS Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
The penal system includes 29 correctional centers
and 81 isolated sections, functioning as correctional
centers, in which 6,407 convicts are registered. Also,
there are 81 federal state institutions "Penal
Enforcement Inspectorate" and 1,348 of their
branches, which are registered with 452,747 people
sentenced to punishments not involving the convicts'
isolation from society, 7,921 people suspected and
(or) accused of committing crimes on house arrest,
3,009 - prohibition of certain actions, 40 - bail with
the obligation to comply with the prohibitions
provided for in Part 6 Art. 105.1 of the Criminal
Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (Brief
description of the penal system..., 2020).
According to the Judicial Department at the
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the total
number of persons sentenced to criminal penalties is
also decreasing. If in 2009 it was 892,360 people,
then in 2019 - 598,214 (Basic Statistical Indicators of
Criminal Records..., 2020).
The research is based on the dialectical method.
The following methods were also used: analysis and
synthesis; comparative; technical; sociological;
theoretical; modeling; forecasting.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The main reasons for the decrease in the number of
convicts in Russia can be divided into:
1) reasons associated with a lowering of crime
rates;
2) the reasons associated with the criminal policy
humanization, including legislation and
judicial practice.
The lowering of crime rates is objectively
confirmed by the official statistics of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (in 2010 -
2628799; in 2019 - 2024337) (The state of crime in
Russia ..., 2020). Thus, over the past ten years, the
registered crime has decreased by 604,462.
It cannot be admitted that this is always associated
with the effective preventive work of law
enforcement bodies. Researchers aptly note that the
true reasons for such lowering are often: the decline
in the birth rate in the 1990s and early 2000s, ill-
considered decisions on regulating the number of
convicts, sometimes low qualifications of law
enforcement officers, imperfection of certain criminal
norms (Santashov, 2019).
The lowering of crime is due to a complex of
criminological reasons, including the observed
demographic decline, and a decrease in crime
detection (latency increase), a decrease in the
personnel of law enforcement bodies, primarily
district inspectors, who are the primary link in the
crime prevention system.
At the same time, the decrease in the total number
of crimes committed cannot indicate a favorable
criminological situation (Prozumentov, 2020).
An analysis of the judicial practice of sentencing
shows that over the past 10 years there has been a
general decrease in the number of sentences imposed,
a change in the convictions structure (including an
increase in the proportion of those sentenced to
punishments not involving isolation from society)
(Rakhmatulin, Rumyantsev, Shamsunov, 2019).
This is due to the second of the above groups of
reasons: the humanization of criminal policy,
including legislation and judicial practice.
The legislation humanization is associated, first of
all, with the decriminalization of certain elements of
crimes and the introduction of new grounds for
exemption from criminal liability (Pudovochkin,
2020), in particular, exemption from criminal liability
due to compensation for damage (Article 76.1 of the
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) (Federal
Law of the Russian Federation 420-FZ, 2011), as
well as with the court fine imposing (Art.76.2 of the
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) (Federal
Law of the Russian Federation 323-FZ, 2016), a
deferral of punishment (Kuznetsov, 2020).
However, one cannot speak of a uniform increase
in the use of all so-called alternative punishments.
According to the Judicial Department at the
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the number
of fines decreased from 123,495 in 2010 to 74,752 in
2019 (Azarova, Dvoryanskov, 2020).
At the same time, a sharp increase demonstrates
the use of this type of punishment as deprivation of
the right to hold certain positions and engage in
certain activities: from 9,924 in 2010 to 69,880 in
2019 (Borodina, Dvoryanskov, 2019).
Custodial restraint in 2010 (the first year of this
punishment application in its modern form) was
imposed 7,941 times, in 2019 - already 20,420 times.
The dynamics of community service assignments
ranged from 79,874 in 2010 to 141,165 in 2016 (the
maximum value in 10 years). In 2019, community
service was assigned 99,652 times (Basic Statistical
Indicators of Criminal Records, 2020).
There were 41,282 people sentenced to
correctional labor in 2010, and 50,020 people in
2019. Thus, the peak-to-peak amplitude is practically
absent.
Probation in 2010 - 307,206 times, in 2019 -
157,511 (Basic Statistical Indicators of Criminal
Criminal Penalty Not Involving Convicts Isolation from Society as a Means of Criminal Counteraction to Crime
411
Records, 2020). The application of this measure has
been significantly reduced.
As for compulsory labor, over the past relatively
short period, the development of this type of
punishment demonstrates high dynamics. So,
according to the departmental statistics of the Federal
Penitentiary Service of Russia, in 2017 there were
587 convicts in the correctional centers (isolated
sections, functioning as correctional centers), in 2018
- 2,501 people, and in 2019 - already 7,386 people.
The potential for the compulsory labor application
is due, on the one hand, to the financial and economic
opportunities associated with the creation of a
network of correctional centers (CC) and sections
functioning as a correctional center (ISCC), and, on
the other hand, by the legal conditions for the
imposition of this type of punishment. The first group
of factors is developing relatively favorably due to the
possibility of creating special sections of correctional
centers and colonies-settlements on the basis of
organizations in which convicts will work (Federal
Law of the Russian Federation № 179-FZ, 2019). The
second is related to the legislative limitation of the
circle of persons who can be assigned to compulsory
labor. According to Art. 53.1. of the Criminal Code
of the Russian Federation, compulsory labor is used
as an alternative to imprisonment in cases provided
for by the relevant articles of the Special Part of this
Code, for the commission of a crime of little or
medium gravity, or for the commission of a serious
crime for the first time.
According to the Judicial Department at the
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the number
of people convicted for crimes of little and medium
gravity is relatively stable and fluctuated accordingly:
crimes of little gravity (309,522 - in 2010;
305,011 - in 2019);
crimes of medium gravity (281,068 - in 2010;
131,824 - in 2019).
In 2019, a total of 129,548 people were convicted
of serious crimes. For comparison, in 2010 - 203,979
people.
Potentially, an increase in the number of the CC
contingent (ISCC) is possible due to the considered
category of convicts who are assigned imprisonment
for crimes of little and medium gravity, except for
persons who are not assigned compulsory labor:
women who have committed especially serious
crimes or are pregnant or have children of age up to
three years old, or those who have reached the age of
fifty-five, as well as minors, invalids of the first or
second group, men who have reached the age of sixty,
as well as military personnel.
Of course, to this number one must also add those
who were assigned compulsory labor initially or as a
replacement in accordance with Art. 80 of the
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
(replacement of the unserved part of punishment with
a milder form).
Some of the persons who could potentially be
assigned compulsory labor (sentenced to
imprisonment for committing intentional crimes of
little and medium gravity) are serving their
punishments in colonies and settlements in
accordance with paragraph "a" of part 1 Art. 58 of the
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In 2019,
their contingent was 20194, i.e. respectively:
crimes of little gravity - 10,380 people;
crimes of average gravity - 9,814 people.
The total number of persons, persons who could
potentially be assigned compulsory labor (if aside
other punishments and measures) was approximately
470,000 people in 2019.
At the same time, the institution of punishment
substitution with a milder form has a serious resource
for expanding the contingent of those sentenced to
compulsory labor (Chernenko, Masalitina, 2019).
Today, the number of such persons, according to the
Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, reaches
approximately 190,000 people, including those who
fall under the grounds for punishment substitution
with a milder form.
The predicted further increase in the number of
those sentenced to compulsory labor requires, in
addition to practical measures, the introduction of
amendments to the penal legislation regulating the
procedure for the appointment and execution of
sentences in the form of compulsory labor (Olkhovik,
2018).
The judicial practice of humanization is also
expressed in the expansion of existing and new
grounds for exemption from criminal liability
(Zvonov, Savin, 2020).
Thus, the court fine imposition increased from
20,692 in 2017 to 52,460 in 2019, and its imposition
is comparable to the appointment of correctional
labor (50,020 in 2019). At the same time, not all
innovations in criminal legislation have found wide
application. For example, the growth in the use of
such a measure of exemption from criminal liability
as compensation for damage in economic cases is
much less significant - from 39 in 2017 to 62 in 2019.
At the same time, it is obvious that these measures
application directly affects the decrease in the number
of convicts.
So, in 2013, 201,803 people were released by
court decisions, in 2014 - 188,610, in 2015 - 174,736,
CLOSA 2021 - VII INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC-PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “CRIMINAL LAW AND OPERATIVE SEARCH
ACTIVITIES: PROBLEMS OF LEGISLATION, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE”
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in 2016 - 174,579, and in 2017 - 186,761 people.
(Forensic statistics data, 2020)
Thus, the application of various types of
punishments and criminal measures not related to
imprisonment is uneven and demonstrates different
dynamics. However, it is characterized by relative
stability, which makes it possible to predict its
preservation in the midterm.
It is also obvious that due to such a policy, the
structure of the convicts contingent is also changing.
In recent years, there has been a trend towards a
steady decline in persons held in prisons. This is due
to the widespread use of alternative punishments,
without imprisonment, and in general with the
liberalization of the penal policy. The number of
convicts in colonies is decreasing, but the number of
persons registered with penal enforcement
inspectorates and correctional centers is increasing.
Accordingly, this should serve as the basis for the
adoption of legislative and managerial decisions to
ensure the proper execution of criminal penalties,
optimization of financial, human and organizational
resources of the penal system.
First of all, the problem of increasing the
resources of the penal system requires a solution.
The currently emerging trend of expanding the
application of punishments and other criminal and
criminally-remedial measures not related to isolation
from society directly affects the number of persons
subject to penal enforcement inspectorates
(hereinafter - PEI), increased according to the
Management of the sentence enforcement not related
to the isolation of convicts from the society by the
Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (Management
of the sentence enforcement not related to the
isolation of convicts from the society by the Federal
Penitentiary Service) by 200 thousand people (2015 -
853,351 people, 2016 - 871,786 people, 2017 -
989,228 people, 2018 - 1,034,029 people, 2019 -
1,003,165 people). This, in turn, naturally leads to an
increase in the workload on the PEI staff.
The problem of exceeding the limit of the number
of CC (ISCC) remains not fully resolved. This is
facilitated, firstly, by judicial practice, characterized
by the expansion of the application of this
punishment; secondly, unreasonably broader ground
for replacing the unserved part of the punishment
with a milder form, including imprisonment -
compulsory labor (as when sentencing - part 2 Art.
53.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,
and in the process of serving - Art. 80 of the Criminal
Code of the Russian Federation); thirdly, an increase
of sanctions in the criminal law containing
compulsory labor, which, by the way, directly
contradicts the provision of Art. 53.1 of the Criminal
Code of the Russian Federation, according to which
this type of punishment can be imposed only as an
alternative, if the court comes to the conclusion that it
is possible to correct the convicted person without
actually serving the sentence in prisons.
At the same time, the CC (ISCC) possibilities are
limited both legally and in fact. The limit for filling
the institution (section) is strictly established by the
issued order of the Federal Penitentiary Service of
Russia for each CC (ISCC). Accordingly, areas,
material and technical support, staffing and other
parameters are calculated.
One cannot but take into account the factor of
economic development, which is different in different
regions. In the more industrially developed
constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the
employment of convicts to compulsory labor does not
cause such noticeable difficulties as in those where
agricultural production prevails, which is seasonal
and does not allow to attract convicts to work on a
permanent basis.
In this regard, it is easy to predict the uneven
distribution of convicts in the CC (ISCC), subordinate
to various territorial bodies of the PEI, which is
already observed today.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Thus, the prospects for the application of
punishments not involving isolation from society are
conditioned by the state and dynamics of crime in
Russia, on the one hand, and by the emerging trends
in the criminal policy humanization, on the other
hand, including legislation and judicial practice. At
the same time, their analysis, based on the current
situation and its extrapolation for the midterm,
scientific forecasting is necessary for making
legislative and managerial decisions to ensure the
proper execution of criminal penalties, optimizing the
financial, human and organizational resources of the
penal system.
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