Full Description
This book uncovers the controversies around the suspended prison sentence, its main aims and features, and the role that it occupies within the wider criminal justice context. Suspended prison sentences were introduced in Central and Eastern European (CEE) states as alternatives to short prison sentences: although they were initially generally conceived of as exceptional penal tools, over time, they became the most imposed and dominant penal sanctions and, in that sense, a defining feature of criminal justice systems in the region.
The book provides a rich source of information about the development and features of suspended sentences in eight CEE countries, a topic that, although of great importance due to their frequency, has received only scant academic attention. Employing a legal, socio-legal, and criminological approach, it achieves this goal through individual chapters on eight countries (Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia, and Slovenia), and also through three general chapters, which outline the main specificity of the region as a whole but also present nuances between different countries.
The book will be of interest to a wide variety of academic researchers who study crime, punishment, and the penal system, and especially to those interested in sentencing. Given the huge discrepancy in the frequency of use of this sanction in CEE countries and the frequency of use of parole in contemporary practice, the work provides unique insights into the potential and desirability of its wider use, particularly due to the minimal supervision that it requires in examined countries. The book therefore seeks to critically inform current thinking on the value and appropriateness of particular forms of sanctions in responding to crime.
Contents
Part I 1. Introduction 2. Key Features of Suspended Prison Sentences and Some Associated Problems Part II Part IIA Suspended Sentences in the Former Warsaw-Pact Countries 3. Countries of the Former Warsaw Pact 4. Suspended Prison Sentences in Czechia 5. The Development of Suspended Prison Sentences in Hungary 6. Suspended Sentences as an Alternative to Imprisonment in Poland 7. Suspended Prison Sentences in Romania Part IIB Suspended Sentences in the Former USSR 8. Countries of the Former USSR 9. Suspended Sentences in Estonia 10. Suspended Prison Sentences in Russia Part IIC Suspended Sentences in Countries of the Former Yugoslavia 11. General Tendencies of Criminal Law and Penal Policy in Yugoslavia (1945-1990s) 12. Suspended Prison Sentences in Serbia 13. Slovenia Suspended Sentences as a Pillar of Penal Moderation Part III 14. Common and Divergent Pathways of Suspended Prison Sentences in Central and Eastern Europe 15. Suspended (Prison) Sentences Reimagined
