International Standards of Penitentiary Activity: Impact on the Development of the Penitentiary Activity of the CIS Countries

Abstract

Overcrowding in prisons is a common problem that affects many countries. It is difficult to define this term because there is no single internationally accepted standard. This article presents a comparative study of international standards for the activities of doctors in penitentiary institutions as an integral part of international standards of penitentiary activity. The authors investigated the methods and the degree of their impact on the penitentiary legislation of the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. The conclusion is drawn about the positive role of such standards in improving the national penitentiary legislation in order to increase the level of medical care for prisoners.

The problem of an objective prognosis of public danger of an insane person for the purposes of criminal proceedings

“…The authors of this study, while mentioning the existence of such a problem and the need to resolve it, supported the efforts of clinicians-psychiatrists by analysing the difficulties of an objective and subjective nature that arise when the court resolves specific legal situations related to the application of the compulsory measure of medical character to certain categories of persons previously recognized by the court as insane [20]. They also addressed the inadmissibility of using vague formulations in medical and judicial practice, created with the help of incorrect concepts, and other aspects [21].…”