RESPONSIBILITY OF CONVICTED AND MAINTENANCE OF ORDER AND SECURITY IN PENITENTIARY INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

In the Republic of Serbia, there are more than thirty penitentiary institutions in which convicted offenders serve their prison sentences. These are prisons of different types: closed, semi-closed and open prisons. At the same time, convicts are not the only ones placed in prisons, but also other persons deprived of their liberty by law. Apart from offenders convicted for the commission of criminal offences, these penitentiary institutions also house other persons who are lawfully deprived of liberty under the law for the commission of a misdemeanour or for the failure to pay a fine or do community service. A common feature shared by all these categories of people is the liability for the committed offence but, depending on the specific type of liability, they are subject to different treatment in penal institutions. In such circumstances, penal institutions have to take relevant measures to maintain order and security in prisons.

The paper explores a number of issues related to convicts and other inmates in prisons. The authors first focus on three different types of liability: criminal liability, disciplinary liability, and material liability, which clearly imply different treatments of convicts and inmates in the course of serving their term of imprisonment. Then, the authors address the problems of maintaining order and security in prisons. Generally speaking, the law that applies to persons serving their sentences in a penal institution is the Act on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions but, depending on the committed crime, they may also be subject to the Act on the Execution of Imprisonment for Organized Crime. Thus, the authors discuss the legal solutions pertaining to this subject matter as contained in both legislative acts.