The mechanism for the release of persons from serving sentences due to illness will be regulated

The Criminal Code of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic establishes a rule according to which a person who after committing a crime falls ill with a serious illness that prevents serving a sentence can be released by the court from serving a sentence. Such diseases include a mental disorder that deprives a person of the opportunity to realize the actual nature and social danger of their actions or inactions or to manage them, for example. If a mental disorder occurred during the period of serving the sentence, then the person is released from its further serving. The court may order compulsory treatment in medical institutions for such persons. The Government of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic has established a list of serious diseases that prevent serving a sentence. It includes malignant neoplasms, severe diabetes mellitus, diseases caused by HIV / AIDS infection, Parkinson's disease and other diseases.

Deputies of the Committee on Legislation, Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of Citizens Galina Antyufeeva and Gregory Dyachenko propose at the legislative level to prescribe a clear mechanism for releasing such persons from serving sentences due to illness.

He Criminal Procedure Code of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic stipulates now that the court may issue a ruling on the release of a person from serving a sentence at the request of the convict or his lawyer, at the proposal of the monitoring commission under the state administration or at the proposal of the administration of the colony based on the opinion of the medical commission.

The law-in-draft of parliamentarians on amendments to the Criminal Code proposes to clarify that such a petition or presentation is sent for consideration to the city (district) court at the place of serving the sentence. The court must decide whether to release the convicted person from further serving the sentence or refuse to satisfy the petition not later than 10 days after receipt.

If the court issues a ruling on the release of the convicted person from further serving the sentence, then this ruling is subject to immediate execution.

The law-in-draft proposes to give the convict and his lawyer the right to appeal this ruling to a higher court in cassation if the court refuses to satisfy the petition. The prosecutor is given the right to submit a submission to the court ruling.

Changes are proposed to be made to the Criminal Executive Code of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. It will clarify that convicts who have firmly embarked on the path of correction can be transferred from correctional colonies of general and strict regime to a colony-settlement. The extent, that they have already served at least 1/4 of the term of punishment for a crime of small and medium gravity. If the convict has committed a serious crime, a person must serve at least 1/3 of the term. Persons who have committed a particularly serious crime or have previously been released from imprisonment in advance and who have committed new crimes during the period of the unserved part of the punishment may be transferred to a colony-settlement after serving at least half of the sentence.

However, those who must undergo treatment for alcoholism, drug addiction or substance abuse, as well as those who require special treatment in medical institutions, will not be transferred to the colony-settlement.

The law-in-draft provides for amendments to the article of the Penitentiary Code, which regulates the procedure for early release due to illness. It is proposed to prescribe that if the court issues a ruling on release, then it is enforced immediately on the day of receipt even if it has not yet entered into force. According to the authors, this will allow faster treatment of patients with serious illnesses in the hospital.

It is proposed to reduce the time for filing a petition for release from serving a sentence to the court. According to the current norms, the convict submits such a petition through the administration of the colony, which submits it to the court along with the conclusion of the medical or medical-labor commission and the personal file of the convict within 10 days. The law-in-draft proposes to reduce this period to 3 days.

Draft laws on amendments to the Criminal Procedure and Penitentiary Codes were developed as a result of the work of the interdepartmental working group on certain issues of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic penitentiary legislation. The legislative initiative of the deputies will be considered at one of the next plenary sessions in the second final reading.