The Board of Directors approved amendments to the draft law on forced labor

The Government Commission on Legislative Activity has approved amendments to the draft law on forced labor — they can be made an independent type of punishment. This was reported to Izvestia on March 3 by sources in the supreme executive body of state power.

Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association, told Izvestia that the draft law provides for amendments to the Criminal, Criminal Procedure and Penal Enforcement Codes of the Russian Federation.

Those sentenced to forced labor serve their sentences in special correctional centers in the region where they live. At the moment, there are 409 such centers in Russia, where 51 thousand people can work, he said.

"The draft amendments exclude references to the possibility of imposing forced labor as punishment in relation to articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in which imprisonment is the only type of punishment," he explained. Gruzdev.

He added that the amendments also imply that, if adopted, appropriate measures will be imposed only on those convicts who have their main place of work. The Penal Enforcement Inspectorate, if necessary, will send convicts to the employment services for employment.

"At the moment, the legislation provides for a ban on the dismissal of a convicted person solely at his own request in the absence of written permission from the penal enforcement inspectorate. Consequently, a convicted person may be dismissed on other grounds, which is why the development of a mechanism for serving correctional labor for such a dismissed convict is relevant," concluded the Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association.

In June last year, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation proposed expand the practice of assigning forced labor as an independent form of punishment. It was noted that they are a more humane way of punishment and significantly reduce the likelihood of repeated crimes.

Later, on September 18, in the State Duma the bill was adopted in the first reading. At the same time, it was necessary to provide amendments to it.