Russian law in Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, as amended, determined the right of convicted persons to serve sentences in places of deprivation of liberty to be released on parole or to commute a harsher sentence.
The essence of parole and commutation of sentences
A convicted person who has the right to apply for release on parole or commutation of punishment, and his representative (lawyer) have the right to appeal to the court with a corresponding petition. The document must contain data confirming that further correction of the convicted person can occur without being in places of detention.
The application of parole or mitigation of punishment is possible for convicts who have partially or fully compensated the victim. In addition, a convicted person can be released ahead of time, for which there is evidence of the correction of the prisoner.
A prisoner has the right to petition to reduce the length of his stay in custody through the administration of a correctional institution or a punishment body, which is enshrined in article 81 of the Code of Criminal Execution.
Prisoners entitled to parole or commutation of sentences
The first part of Article 80, Art. 78 and Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in the new edition the following categories of prisoners are established, which have the right to release on parole:
- Persons convicted of forced labor are serving sentences in military disciplinary units, or are in places of deprivation of liberty.
- Persons who have committed minor crimes or crimes of moderate severity (to mitigate two-thirds of the punishment period).
- Persons who have committed serious crimes (to mitigate half the period of punishment).
- Persons who have committed particularly serious crimes (to mitigate one third of the punishment period).
- Persons who have committed criminal offenses against the inviolability of the sexual plan for minors or convicted of participation in a criminal group or its organization (to mitigate one quarter of the sentence).
- Persons who have committed criminal offenses against the inviolability of the sexual plan in relation to minors under the age of fourteen (to mitigate one fifth of the period of punishment).
Article 78 of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation establishes the following categories of prisoners who have the right to commutation of punishment:
- persons serving sentences in a penal colony with a strict regime have the right to transfer to a penal colony (to mitigate two-thirds of the sentence period).
- persons serving a sentence in a colony who have a positive response from the management of the institution;
- persons engaged in labor or training while in prison;
- persons having the prisoner's correct attitude to the crime committed.
The legislation does not establish an obligation to provide a prisoner with a lighter sentence. Serving convicts by convicts does not guarantee replacement of this punishment with a milder look.
Actions of the administration of the correctional institution upon receipt of the application for parole
Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, as amended, with comments, determines the procedure for the administration of the correctional institution upon receipt of a request from a prisoner.
The administration of the correctional institution must, within fifteen days from the receipt of the petition from the convicted person for release on parole, send this petition to the judicial authority, attaching to him a statement on the prisoner.
Art. 175 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and judicial practice under part 2 of this article determines the information and data the provision of which is required by the court for a full and comprehensive consideration of the issue of release on parole.
The characteristics of the convicted person must contain the following information:
- About the behavior of the prisoner.
- On the performance by the convicted person of labor or educational activity while in custody.
- On the attitude of the prisoner to the crime committed.
- About compensation to the convict of the harm caused by a criminal offense.
- Recommendations from the administration of the place of detention on the advisability of release of the convicted person on parole.
- Information about the application of compulsory medical measures to the convict , as well as about the prisoner's attitude to the treatment. This applies to convicts for crimes against the integrity of the sexual plan for minors and persons under the age of fourteen, if they have been diagnosed with pedophilia, not excluding sanity.
- The opinion of the doctor who is carrying out the treatment (in the case of a convict, to whom medical measures of a forced nature were applied).
- A notice for the victim with his legal representative with information about his whereabouts and other information necessary to notify the injured party (if the prisoner’s case contains a copy of the decision or court ruling on the need to notify the victim of a change in the status of the convicted person).
Petition for commutation of sentence from a convict
To mitigate the punishment, the prisoner or his representative must petition the court. As well as an application for release on parole under Part 1 of Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, a petition for mitigation of the type of punishment is submitted by the convicted person through the administration of the correctional institution or the penal authority.
Within ten days, the specified administration is obliged to send this petition to the judicial authority, attaching to it a description of the prisoner.
Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation with comments indicates that the necessary information must be indicated in the description attached to the application. These include:
- about the behavior of the convict;
- the attitude of the convicted person to the crime committed;
- on the performance by the convicted person of labor or educational activity while in custody;
- on the attitude to remedies used at the place of detention;
- on compensation by the convicted person for the harm caused by the criminal offense;
- recommendations from the administration of the place of detention on the advisability of early release of the convicted person;
- information about the participation of a prisoner in amateur organizations.
- information on the application of compulsory medical measures to the convict , as well as on the convict's attitude to the treatment, together with a medical opinion; this applies to convicts for crimes against the inviolability of the sexual plan for minors and persons under the age of fourteen, if they have been diagnosed with pedophilia that does not exclude sanity;
- a conclusion on the correction of the convicted person and the possibility of mitigating punishment.
Peculiarities of filing a petition for mental illness in a convict
Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation with comments determines the course of action of the convict if he wishes to receive release on parole due to the onset of a mental disorder. In this case, the prisoner himself or his representative can file a petition with the court under article 81 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Like other petitions, this petition is filed through the administration of the correctional institution or the penal authority. If, due to a mental disorder, the convicted person cannot appeal to the judicial authority himself, or the representative of the convicted person cannot do this for objective reasons, the head of the correctional institution submits to the court a notice of release on parole.
These documents must be accompanied by the conclusion of a medical expert commission, as well as the personal file of the prisoner.
Peculiarities of applying for a serious illness of a convict
Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation as amended determines the right of a prisoner who has a serious illness not related to mental illness to file an application for release on parole.
As in the case of a mental disorder, in case of a serious illness, the prisoner must submit a written petition to the court through the administration of the correctional institution or the penal authority.
The following documents must be attached to the application:
- Medical commission report or medical-social type examination from a specialized institution.
- The folder with the personal file of the convict.
The procedure for conducting and issuing a medical examination for prisoners who are being submitted for early release due to illness is defined by the Russian Government in Resolution No. 54 of 2004.
Other features of the application
Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and court practice under Part 1 of the specified article defines some features of the filing and evaluation of convicts' applications for release on parole.
In the event that a prisoner sentenced to work of compulsory or correctional type is recognized, for medical reasons, to be a disabled person of the first group, he has the right to appeal to the court through the administration of the correctional institution or the punishment body for granting him parole.
If a prisoner sentenced to forced labor is recognized as a disabled person of the second or first group for medical reasons, he is also entitled to such a written request.
A special procedure for granting release on parole applies to a pregnant woman who has been sentenced to work of compulsory, compulsory or correctional type. In this case, the pregnant woman receives the right to submit a written application from the moment she is granted leave to prepare for childbirth.
In order for a prisoner to receive a positive response to a written request for his release on parole, he must have facilitated conditions of detention. In addition, his actions should confirm that he firmly embarked on the path of correction.
When analyzing the behavior of convicts and classifying them as positively responding to corrections applied to them, the behavior of the convicted person and his participation in various amateur groups or organizations of prisoners are taken into account.
Court review process
The process and rules for considering a petition by a court are regulated by Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation and chapter 47 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
To be released on parole, a prisoner must go through two stages:
- serve the part of the punishment established by article 80 of the Criminal Code;
- submit a petition to the court.
If both of these points are met, the district or city court located in the place of serving the sentence, having received a written request, considers it in the manner prescribed by law.
The prisoner and his representative or counsel have the right to be present at the trial for the examination of the petition. The presence of the prosecutor is also mandatory at the meeting.
If the written request was filed not by the convict, but by his representative, the court must obtain the consent of the prisoner to consider the request. If he does not agree, the meeting is terminated.
Additional documents required by the court
In order to correctly assess the possibility of granting a prisoner release on parole, the court requires several documents, in particular the following:
- The written application itself.
- Documents of the judicial type (convictions , decisions and rulings of the cassation and supervisory instances, court rulings to review the sentence under paragraph 13 of Article 397 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if any). These documents allow the court to correctly determine what proportion of the sentence or other type of punishment the convict has already served, what is the severity of the crime committed by him, how the prisoner behaved when considering the case in pre-trial procedure, etc.
- Certificate of incentives or penalties received at the place of detention, even if they are canceled.
- Proof of damages. Art. 175 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and court practice under part 2 determine that when applying for early release with real compensation for the convicted person of the harm done, he is obliged to provide confirmation of this. This can be certificates, checks, testimonies, etc.
Convict's actions in case of rejection of application by court
If under Part 10 of Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the court, for whatever reason, refused the prisoner early release or commutation of sentence; the convicted person has the right to submit a second petition. The minimum deadline for submitting a new petition is six months after a court order is refused.
If the court refused the convict sentenced to life imprisonment, the convicted person has the right to submit a second petition only after three years.
According to Art. 175 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, if the court refused the convict early release, the prisoner has the right immediately after that to file a petition for commutation of sentence. If such a request is granted by the court, the convicted person has the right to file an application for release on parole only after a year.
Article 175 of the Code discloses the entire sequence of actions of a convicted, correctional institution and court when considering the possibility of mitigating punishment for a convicted person or his early release.