The first section covers general points of the report, defines terms, and enumerates the
research and documents that form the basis of our proposal. A bibliography is provided at
the end of this section.
The authors are of the opinion that the concept of penitentiary reform
should not contradict the principles of court reform adopted by parliament. However we
believe that some elaboration and amendments are needed to clarify contradictions and
paradoxes that emerged during the legal reforms of 1991—95.
Moreover, a systemic approach that goes beyond legal and political aspects to consider
the social, cultural and economic aspects of the transformations is necessary. To this
end, it would be useful to take into account the experience of the reforms of the criminal
code of 1958—61. Reform efforts are repeating many of the mistakes made in that period.
