Conditional early release as an alternative to imprisonment - in the Polish perspective.

• In Event: Prison Working Group: Rethinking punishment: Prison releases and alternatives to imprisonment

Abstract

dr Paulina Wiktorska
Institute of Law Studies Polish Academy of Sciences
Conditional early release as an alternative to imprisonment - in the Polish perspective.

Conditional early release in the Polish legal system is one of the basic alternatives to imprisonment. It is a probationary measure applied at the stage of imprisonment. Probation is a special form of punishment, based on pedagogical and social principles, and combines supervision and assistance. It is applied in the custodial system to certain categories of offenders selected for their personality and susceptibility to the proposed opportunity to modify their behavior and return to society. The institution of conditional early release, like conditional probation, "has a rich tradition of development and appropriate usefulness from a criminal-political point of view. It is known to all three Polish penal codes. Its main sense is to shorten the serving of a prison sentence in cases of unequivocal improvement of the offender during the serving of the sentence. The substantive premise of conditional release is based on a positive criminological prognosis, to which, with this institution, is added the element of behavior during the serving of the sentence" . The principle of some penitentiary systems is that the last stage of a prison sentence is served in free or transitional conditions. The aim of the presentation is to show the criminal policy in Poland on the use of conditional early releases and its compliance with international standards.

Author

• Paulina Wiktorska, Institute of Law Studies Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland