Features of the design and construction of pre-trial detention centers in Russia, taking into account environmental standards

¹ Academy of the Federal penitentiary service of Russia, 1 Sennaya str., Ryazan, 390000, Russia
² Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, Cheremushkinskaya str., 34, Moscow, 117218, Russia

^* Corresponding author: a.copytowa@yandex.ru

Abstract

Pre-trial detention of persons accused of committing a criminal offense is an integral measure in the justice system of any state. In most countries, there are specialized institutions for maintenance of this category of citizens. In Russia, they are called pre-trial detention centers. Such institutions belong to the penitentiary systems. By isolating a potential offender, pre-trial detention centers perform several tasks: 1) exclude the possibility of persons to hide from the investigation and the court; 2) make it impossible for them to continue criminal activities; 3) maximally complicate their obstruction of establishment of truth in a criminal case. Implementation of these tasks is facilitated to the maximum extent by proper design and construction of pre-trial detention centers, competent placement of facilities, security buildings and premises, optimal use of special gratings, doors and locks. The article deals with the regulation of design and construction standards of pre-trial detention centers by Russian legislation. The authors analyze the experience of penitentiary systems of foreign states, as well as the norms in force in Russia, highlighting strengths and weaknesses. The actual double subordination is established in solving the current problem. On the one hand, the department executing the preliminary report, on the other, the department organizing and controlling design and construction of institutions executing preventive measure. Such inconsistency creates problems in practical application of provisions of existing norms, leads to errors and, as a result, inadequate performance of isolation of suspects and accused of committing crimes. Based on the results of the study, it was proposed to create a unified legal document regulating the procedure for design and construction of pre-trial detention centers. There is a need to exclude the listed issues from provisions of documents not related to design and construction sphere. This will provide proper, common understanding of existing problems and their faster resolution.