With the entry into force on April 1, 2020 of the Act of March 31, 2020 amending the Act on special solutions related to the prevention, prevention and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, and certain other acts, the rules concerning the execution of the sentence have changed. These regulations are aimed at easing the conditions necessary to interrupt the execution of a penalty and submit to electronic supervision in order to reduce the risk of infection.
The first of the changes is the possibility of serving a sentence of imprisonment in the electronic supervision system by persons who have been sentenced to imprisonment not exceeding 18 months. Until now, such an option was only available to persons sentenced to a maximum of one year. This change allows more convicts to use this institution. This option may also be used by persons who have not yet started executing the sentence. In this situation, it is important to convince the court that granting consent to serve a sentence in the electronic supervision system is sufficient to achieve the objectives of the sentence, in particular to prevent the repeated offense, as well as to prove that the convict will be able to execute the sentence outside the prison.
In the so-called The anti-crisis shield also contained a regulation that during the period of an epidemic threat or state of an epidemic announced due to COVID-19, the penitentiary court may grant the convict a break from the execution of the imprisonment sentence, unless there is a justified assumption that the convict during his stay outside the prison does not will comply with the legal order, in particular, will commit a crime, or will not comply with the guidelines, orders or decisions of competent authorities related to the prevention of COVID-19 or 17 treatment of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. The director of the penitentiary institution submits such an application to the court after approval by the Director General of the Prison Service, if giving a break to the inmate may contribute to reducing or eliminating the epidemic. It should be noted that the court will discontinue the proceedings if the prosecutor objects to the application not later than until the decision on this matter is issued.
The break is granted for a specified period of time, not longer than until the end of the epidemic threat or the state of epidemic announced due to COVID-19. On the day of announcing the end of the state of epidemic threat or state of epidemic, the convict will be obliged to return to the prison within 3 days, unless it is not possible due to being placed in quarantine.
It is worth noting that the above provisions will not be available to convicts:
- for an intentional offense punishable by imprisonment exceeding 3 years;
- for an unintentional crime punishable by more than 3 years imprisonment;
- persons convicted in the conditions of ordinary recidivism, multiple recidivism and perpetrators who have made a permanent source of income by committing a crime or have committed a crime by acting in an organized criminal group or association aimed at committing a crime and against the perpetrator of a terrorist crime.
