Correctional labor as an alternative to imprisonment in modern problems of punishment assignment

Abstract

The global practice has shown many times that the primary means of struggling with criminality over the entire history of the civilized society is punishment. The modern legislator is constantly striving to improve its types by following global trends in its regulation, assignment and use. Efficiency of labor influence over the convict makes us pay a special attention to punishments suggesting mandatory labor nurturing. One of such punishments is correctional labor whose relevance of research is caused by the interest of the international society to use measures alternative to imprisonment. Despite the fact that legal systems of some foreign countries envisage and widely use punishments whose various characteristics are similar to domestic correctional labor, the Russian experience of their regulation and use can be useful, due to their specific nature, and interesting to any modern state, because the issue of implementing a rich potential of penology is especially relevant these days. At the same time there are significant issues in assignment of correctional labor, which area caused by imperfect construction of law. Research purpose is to study urgent issues of assigning correctional labor as an alternative to imprisonment in the Russian legal system. Methods: the analysis method allowed for characterization of specific features of assigning criminal punishment in the form of correctional labor and revealing primary problems in this area. The comparative method was used to collate specifics of correctional labor and probation. The prediction method helped defining perspectives to eliminate the identified disadvantages. An alternative mode of correctional labor has been criticized; measures have been offered to improve the legislative regulation of correctional labor within Article 53.1 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code.

Keywords

• correctional labor
• alternative punishment sanction
• humanism