Life Imprisonment Research Articles

The information needs and practices of Australian adult prisoners

This paper describes the findings of a research project conducted in six adult prisons in New South Wales, Australia that sought to study the information needs and information seeking practices of adult Australian prisoners. Through data gathered from 106 prisoner surveys, the paper identifies the information needs of Australian adult prisoners across six information domains: legal, education, spirituality, health, prison life, and re-integration. For each information domain, participants were asked to identify their preferred source or sources of information from eight possible information sources: prison libraries, tablet devices, staff, family/friends, health services, television/radio, books etc. not from the prison library, or other. The number and nature of unmet information needs are also explored and described. The data gathered enables a study of the different information needs and behaviours of female and male prisoners, and prisoners from across various security levels. The paper finds a significant level of unmet information need in the lives of Australian adult prisoners across all information domains studied. Prisoners are heavily reliant on sources of information that are likely to be non-expert such as custodial staff, other inmates, and family and friends to attempt to meet their information needs about significant critical issues such as their ongoing legal matters and their health. The information needs are similar for female and male prisoners, however their information seeking practices differ, with male prisoners being more likely to have support from family and friends as information sources than female prisoners. Prisoners living in minimum security prisons are least likely to identify a need for spirituality-related information compared with prisoners living in other security classifications and are most likely to seek information regarding their reintegration back into their communities as they plan for their release.

TINDAK PIDANA YANG DIANCAM DENGAN SANKSI PIDANA MATI DALAM KITAB UNDANG-UNDANG HUKUM PIDANA

The death penalty is regulated in Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code. Article 98 of the Law states that the death penalty is the most serious punishment and must always be threatened alternatively with life imprisonment or imprisonment for a maximum of 20 (twenty) years. Death penalty is a sanction carried out with a choice of lethal acts (by the state) to the perpetrators of criminal acts who have been found guilty of a court decision that has permanent legal force. Judging from the purpose of punishment, the death penalty is not essentially the main or principal means to regulate, discipline and improve individuals or society. Death penalty is only a means of exception. as far as possible the death penalty is avoided by choosing an alternative punishment in the form of life imprisonment or imprisonment for a certain time, a maximum of 20 years.

Contemporary Music Theater asan Instrument of Human Rights Protection: PENITA.opera and Vitally Important Social Project

The paper discusses Vitally Important Social Project addressing women imprisoned for life in Ukraine, which consists of an opera performance, a photo exhibition, and a series of conferences in several cities of Ukraine. The grounds of the project were considered, namely the problem of attitude towards life prisoners in Ukraine and the legislation that regulates their rights and the possibility of early release. The study offers a holistic analysis of the music theater performance PENITA.opera in its connection with the current social problems of Ukrainian society. It was revealed that contemporary art projects are an effective tool in launching important social and political discussions. At the same time, the unusual themes of contemporary opera require its genre and type transformation, and the modification of established art forms. It is noteworthy that the short-term complex project, after its formal completion, has continued its life in the format of a repertoire performance of the Kyiv National Operetta. In conclusion, the article defines the role of social art projects in creating a common field for public debate. The characters of the documentary opera and photo exhibition evoke empathy in the viewer, and the art projects themselves bring together like-minded people who, by means of communication, convey new values to the public, join the media discussion, and influence public opinion and prompt fundamental changes in legislation. Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the topic of colonies, imprisonment, and oppression has gained new relevance, and Vitally Important Social Project has become a part of a powerful postcolonial movement in Ukraine.

The tragic consequence of false honour: Understanding the phenomenon of "honour-killings" and its legal implications in Nepal.

"Honour-killings" are the intentional execution of women who are perceived to have disrespected their families; in Nepal this is frequently considered socially acceptable while the United Nations condemns them as arbitrary executions that violate the right to life. In Nepal, "honour-killing" is typically a caste-based hate crime which is not limited to women as there have been reports of male victims as well. The perpetrators are sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, with the perpetrator serving 25 years. Pride-killing is common in the animal kingdom, but there is no logic in killing a family member to maintain family pride in a civilised human society.

Hukuman Mati Menurut Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 2023 Tentang KitabUndang-Undang Hukum Pidana Dalam Perspektif Hak Asasi Manusia

Indonesia is a country that acknowledges the existence of Human Rights, but this does not lead to the abolishmentof the death penalty in its positive law. Both the old and new Criminal Codes (KUHP) still regulate the deathpenalty, albeit in different concepts. This research aims to identify the differences between the death penalty in theold and new Criminal Codes and to understand and analyze the death penalty in the new Criminal Code from ahuman rights perspective. The research employs a normative juridical method. The findings indicate that thedeath penalty in the new Criminal Code is no longer the primary punishment as in old Criminal Codes and has beenreplaced with an alternative penalty. Under the new Criminal Code, those sentenced to death will undergo aprobationary period of 10 (ten) years, and if they demonstrate good behavior during this period, the death penaltywill be commuted to life imprisonment or imprisonment for 20 (twenty) years. This change is motivated by theperception that the death penalty constitutes a violation of human rights.

‘I have controlled so much’: Discourse of prison violence

Prison violence has been considered a threat to not only the safety of inmates, staff, and visitors but the day-to-day functioning of the prisons, and therefore is strictly forbidden and immediately punished. However, some inmates still turn to violence, which raises doubts about whether these inmates are naturally violent and impossible to change. This paper, based on in-depth interviews with 27 inmates who have committed violence and remained in solitary confinement in prisons in Zhejiang Province, China, examines how the inmates make sense of and describe their violent experiences. It is found that these inmates make efforts to construct their victims as deserving, acts as controlled, and punishment as acceptable through employing discursive strategies such as resorting to traditional values, conditional sentences, and repetition. In so doing, these inmates seek to redefine who they are not, how they should not be treated and what prison life should not be like. This paper could open up ways of better understanding why violence could be reduced but impossible to be eliminated completely in the prison context.

The Taste of Freedom, the Smell of Captivity: Sensory Narratives of the Hungarian Camp of Bergen–Belsen

This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the role of sensory impressions in narratives of the everyday lives of prisoners in a concentration camp. I examine the narrative strategies in a diary and an early postwar memoir in the so-called Hungarian camp of Bergen–Belsen. I focus on how the survivors who produced these texts included references to sensory impressions in their accounts. By paying attention to mention in the survivors’ narratives of the more neglected elements of human experience (such as hearing, taste, smell and touch), I consider the ways in which non-visual sensory impressions were used in the narratives to convey experiences, observations, and feelings. I argue that in their depictions of everyday life in the camp, these testimonies used references to changes in their sensory impressions to represent processes and subtle changes in the social lives of the prisoners, which created a discursive space for the authors to express their emotions. This paper also attempts to introduce the term ‘sensory narratives’ into Holocaust studies in an effort to move beyond interpretations of historical narratives as representations of bodies and to engage with them as accounts that were created by bodies, including the senses.

Life Imprisonment in Canada: Is the “Hope” Lost?

Abstract Life imprisonment has divergent meanings in various countries. With a focus on the issues related to life imprisonment in Canada, more specifically regarding the issue of the ‘hope to be released’ for the individuals serving a life sentence, the author assesses the legislation and some relevant, positive and negative, jurisprudential developments pertaining to life imprisonment in that context from a few countries, including Vietnam. The positive evolution that the Canadian jurisprudence witnessed in 2022 with respect to the eligibility for release of detainees serving a lifelong sentence could make Canada an interesting case study for Vietnam. This paper mainly relies on legal doctrinal research and comparative law by way of referring to the legislation and caselaw of a few different national jurisdictions for its analysis.

The Insurgent Agency of Incarcerated Trans Women of Color

How do trans women of color build lives in the context of carceral violence? The literature on transgender incarceration emphasizes violation but undertheorizes agency. Thus, while patterned victimization is well documented, we know far less about how incarcerated trans women of color understand their situation and struggle for safety and dignity. Drawing on semistructured interviews with thirty-two formerly incarcerated trans women, I answer this question by applying an intersectional, abolitionist feminist framework to the empirical study of trans women’s lives behind bars. The article begins by proposing a theory of violence that connects racially gendered interpersonal harm to the systemic harms of penal institutions. The immobilization and bodily dispossession inherent in imprisonment facilitates assaults by prison guards and other prisoners. The article then turns to the ways trans women of color employ embodied social and economic strategies to meet their needs behind bars, including the need for safety. By centering the insurgent practices of incarcerated trans women of color, this study provides new insights into prison life, the intersection of state and interpersonal violence, and possibilities for agency under radical constraint.

Compensatory remedies in the execution of life detention in comparative law

The European Court of Human Rights has consistently noted that precarious conditions of detention are contrary to Article 3 of the Convention. As a result, the criminal procedural legislation of the Republic of Moldova provided for a compensatory remedy in case of finding the circumstances provided in article 4732 par. (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Thus, in the event of such circumstances, the court orders the reduction of the custodial sentence and, regarding the remaining period, orders, as compensation, the payment in favor of the convict of a sum of money for each day in which the convict suffered a violation of conditions of detention. The question is whether compensatory remedies for inhuman conditions of detention are applicable to persons sentenced to life imprisonment.

Rethinking Heavy Penalties and Misdemeanors for Drug Crimes in China—Discussing the Legislative History and Status of Drug Crimes

Felonism in drug crimes has been a long-standing problem in Chinese legislation and judicial practice, with historical and even political factors involved. China’s drug legislation has undergone a process from the last century to the present, from scratch to maturity, but it should still be noted that felonism on drug crimes is still a serious and urgent problem today. As a non-violent crime, the current penalties for drug crimes do not match their social harms, and the heavy-handedness of drug crimes can hardly reduce the occurrence of drug crimes. To treat drug crimes, the future can start from restricting, or even abolishing, the death penalty, attaching importance to life imprisonment without commutation or parole, and focusing on the application of property penalties, and treating drug crimes as a comprehensive misdemeanor in order to conform to the principle of matching crime with punishment.

The King of the Blues: First-Hand Religious Experience at Sing Sing Prison

William James’s category of “first-hand religion” allows us to arrive at the religious from an internal and individual perspective, including in those activities and phenomena usually considered secular. B. B. King’s 1972 performance at Sing Sing Prison, documented by David Hoffman, brings both the prisoner audience and the performers to an “additional dimension” distinct from the hollowness of everyday (prison) life. In addition, the presence of this intense experience on the YouTube platform creates a fluid community of second-order observers, bound not by any overarching belief but by observation of the experience itself. King’s performance is in the genre of blues music, which, in turn, has associations with African religious traditions. While the study of diverse religious traditions helps inform our understanding of the kinds of activities that might constitute the religious, this study takes individual experience as primary rather than as a manifestation of a particular tradition.

The Struggle against Timelessness: Prisoner Experiences of Time in Nazi Concentration Camps

Abstract This article explores the ways in which timelessness affected prisoners in Nazi concentration camps and how some prisoners attempted to track time. By depriving prisoners of timekeeping methods, the Schutzstaffel (SS) sought to deprive them of a sense of future and therefore hope. Going against the idea that the SS achieved absolute power, however, is the evidence that some prisoners managed to keep track of time, albeit in unconventional ways. This research looks at the material records of timekeeping from the camps, from graffiti writing to recovered personal possessions, in conjunction with survivor testimony to understand exactly how prisoners were able to track time. The ability to keep time was of material and emotional benefit to many prisoners, allowing them to intercept food parcels, avoid beatings, mentally sustain themselves during difficult hours and days, connect through religion, and plan for the future. By opening a window into how prisoners were able to track time, this research contributes to the literature on daily life in the camps and demonstrates the value of integrated studies of prisoner life, showing how prisoner groups communicated and how their communication affected prisoner hierarchies, power, and survival.

COVID-19 Vaccine: A Right or Privilege for Nigerian Prison Inmates

Citizens are members of a particular country who, because of birth, registration, or application, are entitled to enjoy certain basic rights and privileges. Discrimination by reason of age, ethnicity, religious background, or liberty of any person should not be entertained at any level; hence, every citizen is to be treated equally in terms of the enjoyment of basic rights and privileges. The most important fundamental right to be enjoyed by a citizen is the right to life, mainly because a person needs to be alive to enjoy other rights and privileges as contained in the constitution. However, the right to life is not limited to the right not to take a person’s life, and rather it expands to the right to enjoy unhindered access to resources that will ensure good physical and mental well–being. Unfortunately, some countries are unable to ensure the enjoyment of these rights by all their citizens. In a bid to manage the limited resources, some persons are being discriminated against, one of which is inmates who are incarcerated and serving an imprisonment term. This act of discrimination was evidenced in 2020 during the COVID–19 pandemic when immediate preventive measures were taken across the country to curb the spread of the virus. It became a cause of concern whether inmates in correctional centres were equally carried along on these measures. This article will discuss the right to life of prisoners in Nigerian correctional centres as it relates to their unhindered right to health. Using the doctrinal and empirical method, this paper will identify the local and international instruments that provide for the enjoyment of the right to health of inmates, and particularly whether inmates were discriminated against in the exercise of the various preventive measures taken during the pandemic.

Meaning of the Elements of 'Commendable Attitudes and Actions' for Convicts as the Basis for Changing Death Penalties to Life Imprisonment Penalties Based on Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code

Meaning of the Elements of 'Commendable Attitudes and Actions' for Convicts as the Basis for Changing Death Penalties to Life Imprisonment Penalties Based on Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code

THE WAY OF ENFORCING THE CULTURAL RIGHTS OF PRISONERS IN THE POLISH AND HUNGARIAN PRISONS: THE ASPECTS OF CREATIVITY

Education in Polish and Hungarian penitentiaries aims at the successful social reintegration of prisoners. Penitentiary institutions support prisoners by education of primary, secondary, and vocational training. Forms of learning within prisons prepare prisoners for release and integration into the labour market. This study aims to review the most important concepts and possible interpretations of criminal pedagogy and the cultural life of prisons. We present the main cultural rights of prisoners (learning opportunities, community cultural opportunities) and their impact on prisoners, as well as highlighting the aspects that make prison a total institution. We present the goals of cultural life in prison and the current training process covering key areas. We state that cultural activities in prison are essential parts of reintegration, bringing prisoners closer to the cultural nature of the outside world. With this article, comparatively on the two countries, we would like to draw attention to the diversity and feasibility of cultural transmission for prisoners.

Retributivism and Death Penalty

In this work, we want to explain our views on the death penalty by analyzing the manifestations of philosophical theories such as retributivism, consequentialism, and deontology in the death penalty: the death penalty is immoral and can be replaced by life imprisonment without parole. Likewise, we will answer the objections to our proposed theory: why the punishment of the death penalty is excessive, and why, in the context of this excessive punishment, the death penalty cannot and did not play a role in improving the overall happiness of society as a penalty should, and why life imprisonment without parole can replace the death penalty and can play a role in improving the overall happiness of society.

ПСИХОЛОГО-ПЕДАГОГІЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ БЕЗПЕЧНОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ПЕРСОНАЛУ ДКВС УКРАЇНИ

The article deals with the psychological and pedagogical aspect of the safe activity of the personnel of the State Criminal and executive Service of Ukraine within penitentiary institutions and pre-trial detention centers. The safe activity of personnel in penitentiary institutions cannot but be an irrelevant topic, as it may affect the preservation of mental and physical health and life of personnel, convicts, prisoners and persons who visit institutions for one reason or another. The object of our study is the psychological and pedagogical angle of this issue and the ways it can influence the improvement of security in penitentiary institutions. The purpose of the article is to reveal the psychological and pedagogical aspect of safe activity, to study the main factors of their influence on the safe activity of the personnel of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine. The author examines the concept of safe work in the State Criminal and Execution Service of Ukraine and clarifies the specifics of personnel activities from a psychological and pedagogical point of view and the difficulties that arise due to this specificity in ensuring safe work in penitentiary institutions and pre-trial detention centers. The article investigates and reveals the following: psychological and pedagogical aspects of influence on the level of safe activity of personnel and factors contributing to this process. According to the results of the study, we found that the psychological and pedagogical aspect plays a significant role in the formation and maintenance of the level of safe activity of the staff of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine, given the specifics of the penitentiary system. The author characterizes the impact of professional training and education on the level of safe activity of personnel. This aspect can be considered and specified in further research for application in practice in order to increase the level of dynamic and personal security within the institutions of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine. Key words: security, safe activity, psychological and pedagogical aspect, professional training, personnel of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine.

“Making a Difference”: Unpacking the Positives in Correctional Work and Prison Life From the Perspective of Correctional Workers

Prisons are rarely conceptualized as promoting “positivity” in the lives of people who are incarcerated (PWAI) or correctional workers (CWs). Analyzing data from 908 open-ended survey responses of Canadian provincial and territorial correctional employees, we present nuances to the more negative constructions of carceral environments; namely, that many CWs work to better the lives of marginalized and vulnerable criminalized people. CWs are able to reflect on how their occupation facilitates personal growth and the pursuit of social and transformative justice. We discuss how their internal commitments toward rehabilitating and making a difference must be reinforced through institutional and organizational changes.

Guarantees Execution of the Capital Punishment for Pregnant Women: A Comparative Study between Emirati and Jordanian Legislation

This study aimed at a legal and scientific analysis of the Guarantees of the death penalty for pregnant women as a comparative study between Emirati and Jordanian legislation, At a time when there is a lot of controversy over the retention or abolition of this penalty. Researcher sought to analyze the Guarantees of execution of the penalty for the pregnant woman before and after the trial and during the execution between Emirati and Jordanian legislation, also analyzed the Definition of the death penalty and the controversy over maintaining or abolishing this penalty Supporting and opposing sides of Capital Punishment. The study obtained several results, the most important of which is we find that the text of Article 17 – Penal Code- talks about the replacement of the death penalty in life imprisonment, only before the issuance of the final judgment, but in the case of text 358- Code of Criminal Procedure , it is after the issuance of a final judgment in the case, then the execution is carried out after three months. In this we find that the Jordanian legislator was not successful in the text and that there is a conflict in the interest of the youngster and we recommend the legislator to amend the text to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment after the final judgment, in order to protect the fetus and take into account his interests.
 
 Received: 24 January 2023 / Accepted: 21 April 2023 / Published: 5 May 2023