Practices in the Field of Disciplinary Liability of Convicts While Serving a Sentence of Imprisonment: Analysis of International Experience

Abstract

The article examines the issue of international experience of disciplinary liability of persons sentenced to imprisonment on the example of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), the European Prison Rules and other international acts, and also examines the experience of individual countries. The purpose of the study is to identify the main standards and "good practices" of applying disciplinary sanctions to persons sentenced to imprisonment. The relevance of the study is stipulated by the need to implement international standards in the penitentiary system of Azerbaijan, taking into account the latest monitoring data on the practice of applying disciplinary sanctions to prisoners. The study was carried out within the framework of comparative penology using the methodology of an integrated interdisciplinary approach to the issue under study. Based on the results of the study, the author identified the main prohibited practices: corporal punishment, placement in an unlit cell, deprivation or restriction of food and drink, forced labour, collective punishment of prisoners, any cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and permitted practices: warnings, reprimands, telephone access, prohibition of short-term visits, prohibition of shopping, prohibition of receiving parcels and correspondence, solitary confinement or solitary confinement as a last resort. The author also emphasises the rights of prisoners to information on the rules of conduct in the penitentiary institution, to participate in a disciplinary hearing and to appeal against a decision to impose a disciplinary sanction, which constitutes the scientific novelty of the study and areas for further research.