Criteria to be assessed in exercising legitimate interests of persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty

The article analyses a number of criteria to be assessed and requirements imposed on a convicted person in the course of deciding on the exercising the majority of special legitimate interests. The problems in exercising the legitimate interests of convicts are mainly caused by an indefinite wideness of the list of such criteria, as well as by the absence of a unified approach to their assessment and application. The conducted analysis of the Russian criminal and penal enforcement legislation revealed a single list of such criteria. At the same time, the study of the judicial practice materials on the exercising the legitimate interests of persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty and their personal files showed that the list considered can be reasonably supplemented by several additional criteria. Firstly, it is advisable to assess and take into account the degree and nature of socially useful links of the person sentenced to deprivation of liberty. This approach is based on the significant social rehabilitation potential of a family, as well as the possibility of expanding the circle of people whose interests can be exercised; moreover, the need to regard socially useful links as a criterion to be assessed when deciding on the exercising certain legitimate interests is indicated by a number of regulations and court decisions. Secondly, the characterising materials are proposed to reflect the convict's antisocial orientation, which is assessed by the person's levels of criminal exposure and criminal involvement. The criminal exposure of a convicted person should be understood as their psychological attitude to the unlawful way of living; the level of criminal involvement indicates the depth and nature of connections with criminal elements, as well as the presence of illegal intentions. In the aauthor's opinion, the considered criteria should be assessed and adhered to along with other characterising materials; they can be included in the appropriate list of criteria taken into account when exercising the legitimate interests of persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty.

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