Historical and legal conditions of functioning and evolution of criminal correspondence institutions in the Ukrainian SSR

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the study is to determine the historical and legal conditions for the development of penal institutions in the Soviet period, their evolution in the context of the transformation of correctional labor legislation, as well as the main types of violations of the rights of persons who served sentences. Methods. The methodological basis of the research was a complex of general scientific, special scientific and philosophical methods, as well as the principles of historicism and objectivity. Results. It has been established that in relation to the Soviet criminal-executive system, it is expedient to apply the concept of the penal-correctional system, because from the first years of the formation of Soviet power, the maintenance of persons serving punishment was carried out primarily in labor colonies, and physical labor was understood as the main and effective way of atonement. The first legal act regulating the penal system was adopted on October 23, 1925, the Correctional Labor Code of the USSR, which established the priority of educational tasks for prisoners and the idea of correction of convicts. The Central Directorate of Correctional Labor Camps and Labor Settlements of the NKVD («GULAG») became a certain symbol of Soviet power and a vivid example of the fact that the penal system was totalitarian. Throughout June 1941, we can talk about deliberate acts of terror and mass murders of prisoners in correctional facilities in Western Ukrainian regions. The post-war penal system was a combination of correctional labor colonies, separate camps (detention for a term of three years or more), labor colonies for minors, prisons, and transit and transfer points. The last normative-legal act that consolidated the structure of the Soviet criminal-executive system was adopted in 1970 «Correctional Labor Code of the Ukrainian SSR». Originality. The main stages of the development of the criminal correctional system of the Ukrainian SSR, as well as the historical and legal conditions for the emergence of criminal correctional institutions, have been established. Practical significance. The results of the research can be used in the process of historical and legal research, preparation of special courses.