Deferral of punishment applies to pregnant women and convicted mothers who already have children under the age of 14. This norm has been in force in Russia since 1992. However, the judiciary has resorted to it in extremely rare cases.
Also, a delay in serving a sentence is granted to a man if he is the only parent of the child (there is no mother for some reason) who is not yet 14 years old. You will find out detailed information on this topic in the process of getting acquainted with our article.
Briefly about the main thing
Deferral of serving a sentence is granted to the convicted person only by the court. No other government bodies have this right.
Deferral of serving a sentence can be applied to the guilty person at the time of sentencing, as well as to the convicted person during the period of serving the term in the colony.
According to the provisions of the current criminal law, deferment can be applied not only to women expecting a child, or to convicted ladies who already have children, but also to drug addicts.
It must also be pointed out that the granting of a delay in the actual serving of a sentence is only a right, but not an obligation of the court. This must be clearly understood.
Conditions of use
Not all persons who have committed unlawful acts can expect their punishment to be delayed. In order to apply the legislative norm referred to in Article 82, it is necessary
- the presence of women under 14 years old;
- that the lady was pregnant (the position of the perpetrator must be confirmed by a certificate from a medical institution);
- a man has a child who is not 14 years old, but only if the convict brings him up alone (for example, the mother died);
- The term of punishment for the committed act does not exceed five years in isolation from society.
All of the above is taken into account by the court when deciding on a postponement of punishment in relation to convicted persons.
Special conditions
If a person is assigned a sanction in the form of a restriction of freedom, then the postponement of serving a sentence does not apply to him, because the convicted person in this situation is not sent to serve his sentence in a colony. Restriction of freedom means house arrest, a ban on leaving the city, and so on.
The delay in serving a sentence does not extend to convicts who have committed serious and especially serious atrocities. Their list is quite wide. Deferral is not given if a person is sentenced by the court to isolation from society for a period exceeding 5 years.
The essence of deferral
Why does the judicial authority grant a delay in serving sentences to women with young children? Indeed, according to most people, convicts should be in a colony. Here, in fact, everything is very simple.
If a woman (in the court’s opinion) deserves to be free and to raise her children, because she pleaded guilty to the deed during the meeting or proved her correction already in the colony, then she is granted a delay from the actual serving of the sentence until that moment until her youngest child is 14 years old.
The essence of the application of this norm is not to infringe on the rights of the convicted children. After all, the kids are not to blame for the fact that their mother was convicted. Children should be brought up in a complete family.
Thus, when a woman who is in a position, or a convict who already has children, is granted a reprieve from the actual serving of the sentence, she must fully devote herself to raising children and lead a law-abiding lifestyle.This is the main condition for finding the culprit free.
Deferral of serving a sentence by a drug addict
Currently, the criminal law allows the judicial authority to leave at liberty a convicted person who, for the first time, committed a criminal offense under paragraph 1 of Article 228, or Art. 231 or Art. 233 of the Criminal Code. This is done only if the perpetrator is ill with drug addiction, voluntarily agreed to undergo treatment for this disease and subsequent rehabilitation.
The maximum grace period in this case is only five years. During this period of time, the convicted person must be completely cured of the addiction to narcotic drugs. Control over how he undergoes a course of treatment for this disease and rehabilitation is carried out by a criminal-executive inspection at his place of residence.
Special conditions for deferral to drug addicts
In the event that a convicted person suffering from drug addiction refuses to undergo treatment and refuses to undergo rehabilitation, then, on the proposal of the executive inspection, the court can cancel the delay and send the offender to the colony. In practice, this happens quite often.
However, the postponement of serving a sentence to a patient with drug addiction can be canceled by the court only after the convict receives a warning from the body that exercises control of his behavior at large. If after a warning a person does not change his behavior, he is sent to serve his sentence.
If a convicted person suffering from drug addiction undergoes a course of treatment for addiction, after which he has remission (within two years after treatment), then the judicial authority will release him from further serving his sentence. But this is only if a person during this period of time does not commit another criminal act. Otherwise, the convict is assigned a new term and sent to the colony.
Pregnant in custody
Currently, in the colonies there are no conditions for women to stay there with newborn children. Moreover, places of isolation are not intended for their children to be there with their mothers. That is why the relatives of the convicted women and their lawyers are asking the court to postpone the punishment until the child is 14 years old.
Is this legal? If a woman has not been previously convicted, she has a good family that is ready to accept her with her child and help with his maintenance and upbringing, then the state gives her a chance to become a law-abiding member of society and live happily.
In this case, the court will take into account the marital status of the convicted person and whether she has conditions for living with the unborn baby.
Procedure
Deferral of punishment for pregnant women and women who have children under 14 years of age is carried out only by the judicial authority in the interests of babies. To apply for a delay in the execution of sentences may:
- herself convicted through the administration of the colony;
- the lawyer of the guilty, which may be delayed punishment;
- The legal representative of the convicted person (for example, parents or guardians, if the offender is not 18 years old).
Best of all, if the convicted lawyer will deal with the collection of all necessary documents. So it will be much faster.
If the petition is submitted by the convict herself through the administration of the correctional institution, the process may be delayed. The colony staff will make the necessary inquiries to obtain documents confirming the fact of the pregnancy of the convicted woman or the presence of children who are under 14 years old.
Then, local authorities will need to find out if the expectant mother has housing in which she will live with her child. It will be necessary to obtain the consent of the convicted relatives that they will accept her with the child and provide all the conditions for living. Without this document, the court is unlikely to provide a delay, because a woman with a child needs to live somewhere and support a baby.
The process by which a court considers this petition does not exceed two months. If the decision of this authority is positive, then the convicted person is released from further serving the sentence in the colony, they are given money for a ticket to the place of residence. In the future, her conduct will be monitored by the executive inspection at the place of residence. The colony administration will send all the documents there.
The actions of the convict, who was given a reprieve
Within three days after arriving at the place of residence, the convicted person, who has received a delay from the actual serving of the term, must appear at the body that will monitor his behavior. If a person does not do this, then the executive inspection announces him wanted. If the convict does not want to get back to places of isolation from people, then he is obliged to fulfill the conditions of the law.
Nuances of delaying pregnant
Postponement of serving sentences to pregnant women is provided only so that they can bear and give birth to a healthy and full-fledged child in normal conditions, and not in a prison hospital. Of course, the sentence of the convict, the characteristic of her personality, and the conditions of life in freedom have a special role in this case.
Once again, I would like to say that the judicial authority is not obliged to grant deferral to convicts, but it has the right to do so. Therefore, it is not a fact that a woman sentenced to several years for a criminal offense of moderate gravity will be released from the colony. This is especially true for those places of detention in which there are conditions for the maintenance of children after their birth.
In addition, in many PSs, there is such a practice that the husband of the guilty woman or her close relatives, for example, parents, takes the born baby. In special cases, the child can be transferred to the baby's house, and the woman will remain to serve the sentence. Basically, this measure is applied to long-term prisoners, as well as to those who constantly violate discipline in correctional institutions.
If the convicted person is positively characterized in the colony, works diligently, and has a sentence of not more than five years, she has the right to ask her to postpone the sentence until her child is 14 years old.
If a man who has a child is convicted
Based on the norms of the Criminal Code, a delay in serving a sentence can be granted even to representatives of the strong half of humanity who are fathers. This applies to men only in certain cases. For example, as already mentioned, if the convicted person is the only parent of a minor child who is not yet 14 years old.
Deferment Convicted men are only served sentences if the crime does not belong to the category of grave or very grave atrocities, and the term of imprisonment is not more than five years.
In this situation, the personality characteristic of the man himself, the way he was a father when he was still leading a law-abiding lifestyle, also matters. It is possible that the court, when deciding whether to grant a deferment to a convict who is the only parent for the baby, will ask for certificates from his place of residence from local authorities. In certain cases, the testimony of witnesses, such as neighbors, is required.
When a deferral is not granted to a mother or a single father
Deferral of serving a sentence to women who have children can be granted only in that situation if the youngest child is not yet 14 years old. Otherwise, this legislative provision does not apply to convicts.
In addition, if a woman has officially abandoned a child in a maternity hospital or simply is not engaged in his upbringing and leads an asocial lifestyle, then the delay must be canceled by the court, and the offender will be sent to serve the sentence in a colony.
If the convicted person to whom the punishment is delayed taking into account the norms of stat. 82 of the Criminal Code, commits a new act during the period of the deferral, that court appoints him a different term for the deed. In this case, getting concessions is very doubtful.
Conclusion
To summarize. Deferral from the actual serving of punishment can be applied to women awaiting the birth of a child, as well as to those convicts who already have children under 14 years of age.
Legislation provides for this norm so that children grow up in normal conditions, rather than looking from birth on the walls of places of isolation from society. However, in the territories of some colonies there are orphanages that contain children under three years of age. Then, if the mother is not released, the relatives take the babies or distribute them to children's state institutions.
Once again, I would like to add that people suffering from drug addiction can receive a deferment from the actual serving of the sentence in the colony if they wish to voluntarily undergo treatment for addiction and subsequent rehabilitation. Many people with this disease and committed atrocities for the first time according to stat. 228 parts 1 and 231, 233 of the Criminal Code, try to remain at large, therefore they agree to treatment. The delay in this case cannot be more than five years.