The Verkhovna Rada has adopted as a basis the draft laws concerning the reform of the penal system, in particular, the possibility for those sentenced to restriction of liberty to work on the basis of civil law contracts. This was reported by Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olena Vysotska, quoted by the Ministry of Justice, UNN reports.
Yes, we are talking about:
- Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (regarding the peculiarities of involving convicts in labor and economic activity in the penitentiary system) (adopted as a basis with revision) (No. 10157 of 06.02.2024)
- Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on Improving the Execution of Sentences in the Form of Fines and Community Service (No. 9149 of 27.03.2023).
Vysotska noted that the Ministry of Justice seeks to create an optimal model for engaging prisoners in labor that will contribute to their resocialization. With this in mind, draft law No. 10157 proposes to establish the possibility for prisoners sentenced to restriction of liberty to work on the basis of civil law contracts. This will increase the number of potential employers and reduce the financial burden on the payment of the unified social tax, on the payroll of penitentiary institutions and enterprises of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine.
It is also proposed to increase the number of hours of possible daily involvement of convicts to restriction or deprivation of liberty who are not involved in paid labor, in the improvement of colonies, and in the improvement of living conditions of convicts
In addition, the draft law regulates the issue of involving convicts in work for a certain period of time during martial law and to eliminate the consequences of military operations.
It is noted that in order to create additional incentives for the involvement of convicts in labor, incentives may be applied in the form of a long visit with close relatives outside the penal colony lasting up to two days within the settlement where the colony is located.
The work of prisoners is an important element of re-socialization, the idea of which is imbued throughout the Strategy for Reforming the Penitentiary System
Another strategic goal of the Ministry of Justice is to improve the punishment in the form of community service and fines. According to the official, this is what the draft law No. 9149 “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts on Improving the Execution of Punishment in the Form of Fines and Community Service” is aimed at.
The draft law stipulates that those sentenced to fines, deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities, community service, correctional labor, and those released from serving a sentence with probation pay the costs associated with the execution of a court decision. The amendments will contribute to the filling of a special fund of the state budget, which will be used to organize and ensure the execution of sentences
The maximum amount of expenses related to the enforcement of a court decision may not exceed fifty percent of the subsistence minimum established for able-bodied persons as of January 1 of the calendar year.
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In addition, the draft law provides for a combination of powers of the authorized probation body and the state executive service. In particular, the draft law provides for the involvement of the state executive service to enforce the collection of a fine in case of non-payment by the convicted person and to initiate the replacement of the fine with another type of punishment only if it is impossible to collect the fine due to the debtor's lack of property and funds.
Amendments are also being made to increase the daily performance of community service to eight hours, which will allow convicts to serve their sentence faster and will also attract employers. At the same time, the owner of an enterprise, institution, or organization together with the convict will have to set the schedule for the convict's daily work, taking into account the time the convict works (studies) at his or her main job.
Among the innovations is the possibility of performing community service throughout the city or region, provided that the convicts are transported to and from the facility, which will increase the interest of local authorities, enterprises, institutions, organizations and, to some extent, will be able to meet the need for free work to eliminate the consequences of military operations.
At the same time, the draft law amends the Law of Ukraine "On Probation" to add a fine to the list of non-custodial sentences covered by probation.