From Material of the Seminar "Questions of Conceptual and Procedural Support of
Russian Criminal Policy" (Nizhny Novgorod, October 24-25, 1997)
From the speech by Alexander Petrov (on the results of the work of the expert
group)
Most of the participants in the discussion agreed that one of the most excruciating
problems we currently face is overcrowding in GUINs. There
are no funds for building GUINs, and none are to be
expected in the foreseeable future, available resources will only dwindle as time goes on.
The main topic of discussion was how to reduce the prison population. The first proposal
was made by Valery Abramkin, who suggested we stop asking for
money, look the truth in the face, and try to find other ways to resolve this problem.
Two topics were discussed: 1. SIZOs and IVSs; 2. colonies. Primarily, the excessively long
investigation period was mentioned. As Mikhail Shestakov said, "the only thing
people complain about in the cells are the courts". According to Diderik Lokhman, the
main problem is the Criminal Procedure Code. Alternative preventive measures must be
introduced. The draft of the CPC corrects the situation to some extent since with petty
crimes entailing a prison sentence of up to 2 years there is no obligation to keep a
person in custody. However, in the new draft of the CPC there are no restrictions on how
long a person is kept in custody after court, which makes it possible to remit cases for
further examination.
Yury Sidorov noted that the main problem is excessive use of custody as an preventive
measure. It was noted that the prosecutor's office very frequently over-insures itself by
keeping a person in custody as a means of applying pressure.
Sergei Shimovolos expressed the need to reduce the use of custody as an preventive
measure. The prisoner must be brought closer the judge by transferring the SIZO under court control.
Boris Nikolaev believes that SIZO wardens should be
civilians, whereas security guards can still come from the agencies that engaged in this
previously. There were several unexpected proposals, such as introducing cells for 3-4
people that operate on a self-supporting basis, at least for prisoners who can pay for
their upkeep. This includes paid food and services.
Sergei Kuznetsov proposed eliminating the operations section and press-cell system.
This means that the investigator will have to prove the need for keeping a prisoner in
custody. A proposal was made to hold investigators responsible for delaying the
investigation process. There was a further proposal to speed up investigation and court
procedures on less severe crimes. In so doing, it would be possible to isolate physically
violent crimes, which assure the convicted person a place in a SIZO, and all the others could be dealt with in greater
detail.
Valery Abramkin suggested taking a closer look at the size of
the population in colonies. The idea was expressed of decriminalization and
decentralization of the criminal execution system. The proposal on decentralization
aroused a whole series of comments, the experts felt this idea was sufficiently
productive. A strengthening in the role of justices of the peace, arbitration courts,
etc., could be used as a point of departure.
In this respect, Sergei Shimovolos noted that a justice of the peace would not be able
to work efficiently without a local "detention home". An even more important
aspect of the problem of decentralization is the need to decentralize not only physically,
but also functionally, that is, make the local authorities responsible for most of the
questions associated with prison maintenance. When a district or regional administration
is allowed to decide for itself what is permissible with respect to the local budget and
given crime level, it will be possible to introduce diversification taking into account
local conditions.
Boris Nikolaev spoke unexpectedly, but rather forcefully and reasonably against
amnesty, against the kind of amnesty that is currently being conducted whereby tens of
thousands of prisoners are released at the same time. In his opinion, this undermines the
authority of the power structures. Perhaps it would be better to carry out amnesty
gradually, rather than all at once.
Valery Abramkin presented a delightful example from French
penitentiary practice. They have a term reduction system whereby every prisoner receives a
note of congratulations once a month which reads, you have behaved very well and because
of this your term has been reduced by three days. This has a positive psychological effect
on the prisoner.
Then the discussion revolved mainly around the problem of decentralization.
Boris Nikolaev said that experiments of this kind had been conducted at the beginning
of the 1980s and had successfully failed. It was noted that the situation in small prisons
was easier to control. There was a discussion about whether it would be better to build
another SIZO with room for 1,000 prisoners, or allot
money little by little and build 20 prisons to accommodate 50 prisoners each, whereby in
places close to the site of the crimes. However, in this case, a significant economic
analysis would have to be conducted. Prisoners must be signed into colonies and any
deviations punished by an increase in term.
Valery Abramkin suggested expanding the sphere of alternative
reformatory justice.
Sergei Kuznetsov believes the percentage of crime exposure as an indicator should be
eliminated.
Many proposals were expressed in such a way that if they were immediately applied they
would contradict the Constitution. For example, pardoning. The President has the right to
pardon. It was suggested that the right to pardon be delegated at the governor level in
order to make the prisoner being pardoned closer to the local authorities and at the same
time raise the governor's authority. It is clear that this directly contradicts the
Constitution, but Valery Abramkin suggested that the governor
could issue a recommendation on pardoning which the President could then sign.
Roy Wemsely expressed the opinion that transfer of punishment execution to a very low
level might lead to serious violations due to the lack of sufficient control over a
multitude of small institutions, as well as to keeping prisoners for local political
purposes.
Vitaly Naishul referred to sociological research studies which demonstrate that the
population does not want to have anything to do with these problems. The terms
"society", "citizen", etc. have to be used very carefully under
Russian conditions, since for most people they do not have a generally accepted meaning.
The methods suggested for resolving these tasks boiled down to obvious proposals for
changes in the Criminal Procedure Code, and lobbying in the Duma, Prosecutor's Office, and
Interior Ministry. Valery Sergeev suggested forming a permanent working group for drawing
up prison population reduction programs.
Valery Abramkin talked about the need to make amendments to
the Criminal Procedure Code and Criminal Code in order to introduce alternative justice.
In addition, a procedure must be introduced whereby every region that sends a prisoner to
another region must pay all the expenses involved in his convoying, upkeep, and
rehabilitation. The relatives of this prisoner should receive compensation for any travel
expenses incurred in visiting him.
Appropriate proposals should be made to the legal community and constituent members of
the Russian Federation. The available legislative mechanisms should be used to greater
advantage.
From the speech by Boris Nikolaev
"For several days we have been discussing questions relating to the legal reform
being conducted in Russia. I believe that one of the important questions we should be
focussing our attention on is ways to reduce the prison population. At first, I did not
think this was a suitable title for the seminar. However, after a great deal of thought, I
came to the conclusion that it was the best name.
"First, I would like to draw your attention to the new Russian Federation Criminal
Execution Code (RF CEC), which came into force in 1997. From an analysis of its articles,
we see that the legislator has taken a big step toward democratization of criminal
punishment execution. The legislator also included such important principles as
differentiation and individualisation of sentence execution into the basic principles of
the CEC (Art. 8)...
"On the whole, it seems to me that this normative act is already outmoded, it
would have achieved more if it had come into effect in the 1980s, and then the question of
reducing the prison population would have been partially resolved, that is, there would
have been fewer people in prison.
"At present, the institution of early release is not operating to its full extent.
For example, Art. 175 of the RF CEC sets forth that an institution or agency executing
punishment shall present to court, as stipulated by the Russian Federation criminal
procedure legislation, a document confirming release on parole. This document on release
on parole should contain information characterising the prisoner's personality, as well as
his/her behaviour, and attitude to work during his time in prison (Part 3, Art. 175, RF
CEC).
"However, how can we talk about a prisoner's attitude to work if, according to
Interior Ministry data, approximately 20-30% of prisoners work in only a few colonies. If
the legislator places top priority on the criterion "Attitude to Work", the
state cannot be interested in reducing the prison population.
"I think that the cheapest way to reduce the `prison population' is to
decriminalize some of the acts that are considered crimes.
"Reducing prison terms may have an effect on reducing the prison population.
Sociologists have conducted studies and come to the conclusion that prisoners who spend
more than 7-8 years in our prisons are incapable of social adaptation. I will give the
following example. I interviewed the head of a special regime corrective institution who
told me that one prisoner, after being released from a prison where he had spent 11 years,
went to the free cafeteria, bought something to eat, put his plate on the table and then
froze, waiting for the command, `Take off your hat, sit down!'
"In order to reduce the prison population, it is necessary to determine the
maximum number of prisoners a corrective institution can accept. The established number
should be entered in the institution's `passport'. People who are sent to this colony over the limit set in the `passport' must be
released on undertaking and made to wait their turn.
"Another way to reduce the prison population is to give the management of
correctional institutions broader rights in executing early release of prisoners. For
example, the chief warden of a colony could issue a
resolution to release a prisoner 2 to 3 months before the end of his term. It seems to me
that this right would raise the authority of the prison warden.
"A warden could have a significant effect on stabilizing the situation in his SIZO. To do this, a person with higher legal education and
at least five years' work experience should be appointed to this post on the instructions
of the executive head of a constituent member of the Russian Federation for an extended
term (10-15 years).
"The SIZO could become a facility for reducing
the prison population. All GUINs should be inspected, the
number of prisoners they can maintain entered in their `passport', and no one should be
accepted above the limit.
"Another proposal is to create cells that operate on a self-supporting basis.
These cells should meet the following requirements: 2 people to a cell, no less than 7-8
sq. m. of living space per person."
From the speech by L. M. Karnozova
"The problem discussed by the experts concerns over-crowding in preliminary
investigation isolation cells, temporary isolation cells, and colonies, as well as their
living conditions. It was proposed that alternative preventive measures be introduced to
resolve the problem of SIZO over-crowding. This is a
problem which relates to criminal procedure legislation. But at the same time, some of the
problems can also be resolved within the framework of the existing legislation. For
example, by introducing conciliatory procedures currently not prohibited by the law for
crimes entailing a prison term of no more than two years. Other proposals can also be
introduced within the framework of existing legislation, at least in the form of
experiment, with respect to conciliatory institutions. They could also be used in other
crimes, more severe ones, in the event that the victim is fully compensated for any
damage...
"The second aspect discussed by the experts concerns the living conditions and
population level in prison colonies. Here two ideas were put forward--decriminalization
and decentralization. It is understood that decriminalization is closely related to the
state's criminal policy. I think the problems under discussion mainly revolve around
criminal policy. It is clear that criminal policy and the problem of decriminalization as
a whole are associated with introducing amendments into the legislation.
"And second, decentralization. The choice was discussed between building new
investigation isolation cells for 1,000 prisoners, or small prisons or detention homes for
50 people, each close to the site of the crime or residence of the prisoners, etc. This
idea can already be implemented not only legislatively, but also organizationally."
