On the excessive use of detention

Abstract

Based on the statistical data on the use of preventive measures presented on the website of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the article examines the reliability of allegations of excessive use of detention and insufficient use of non-isolation preventive measures. By comparing the indicators that reveal the total number of defendants whose criminal cases were sent to the court of first instance and the number of application of “judicial” preventive measures in pre-trial and trial proceedings, the number of persons against whom preventive measures not related to isolation were applied is determined and a conclusion is made on the sufficient use of preventive measures alternative to detention. Discussing the thesis about the excessive use of detention, the author focuses on the ratio of the number of convicts to actual imprisonment and the number of accused in custody. Allegations about the excessive use of detention are reliable only in cases where the number of accused in respect of whom a measure of restraint was applied exceeds the number of persons sentenced to real imprisonment.