International standards of penal activities and stereotypes of their perception

International cooperation in the field of execution of criminal penalties finds legal expression in the aggregate of international acts which are usually referred to as "international standards for the treatment of prisoners". Considering the multifaceted nature of this field of criminal policy, it is more accurate to refer to them as "international standards for penitentiary activities". Their role is very great and diverse. The paper analyzes the political, informational, stimulating, guaranteeing, evaluative, coordinating, law-enforcing, interpretative, educational-worldview and scientific significance of the international standards under consideration. The classification of international standards is presented and justified. The classification of international standards is made by different criteria: by the territorial scale of action, by the degree of specialization, by forms of legal expression (sources), by the degree of compulsion. Special attention is paid to the critical analysis of the still existing stereotypes of perception of international standards by society, lawyers and employees of the penal system. This is the perception of standards as wishes imposed on Russia and imploring its sovereignty, as abstract and "far" from reality, as directed solely at protecting the rights of prisoners and, finally, as requiring large financial and economic costs for their implementation.

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