Baku, August 26, AZERTAC
In order to ensure the access of citizens to the judiciary, to inform them regularly about the activities of the judiciary, the work of wide use of opportunities of both of civil society representatives and the media, as well as the official websites and social networks of the Ministry of Justice is continued. From this point of view, the live broadcast of various activities of the judiciary on the Ministry's official Facebook page during the special quarantine regime in the implementation of the President's instructions also plays an important role in legal education of the population.
AZERTAC reports that, as part of the next measures taken in this direction, on August 26, the Ministry of Justice organized an online public discussion on "Execution of alternative sentences to imprisonment, the activities of the Probation Service."
Participating in the public discussion, Deputy Chief of the Probation Service of the Ministry of Justice Musa Humbatov, Chief Adviser of the Electronic Monitoring Department Navai Alizada gave detailed information about the main activities of the Service and its organization.
It was noted that, the Probation Service was established within the Ministry of Justice by the Decree of the President Ilham Aliyev dated February 10, 2017 "On improving the activity in the penitentiary field, humanizing the penal policy and expanding the use of alternative punishment and coercive measures not related to isolation" and the institution officially began to function on December 1 of that year.
The Probation Service carries out control over the works on fines, driving, deprivation of the right to hold a certain position or engage in certain activities, public works, correctional works, execution of punishments in the type of deprivation of liberty, and over the persons who were convicted, as well as conditionally sentenced, released by parole, or whose sentences have been suspended by a court, as well as those who have committed a crime and have been subjected to compulsory medical treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction, have committed an administrative offense involving administrative detention and have been compulsorily treated for drug addiction and it makes preventive works for preventing the commission of new crimes by those persons.
It was noted that, in accordance with the order of the President Ilham Aliyev, a relevant instruction was given to use electronic means of control to ensure the use of modern information and communication technologies in the execution of sentences. As part of the implementation of this Order, in May 2018, the application of electronic means of control over the execution of sentences began in our country. These means of control shall be applied to persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty, conditionally convicted and released by parole in accordance with a court decision that has entered into force. One of the main innovations is the implementation of the penalty of restriction of liberty with the use of direct electronic means of control. In this type of punishment, the convict has the right to move freely within certain restrictions.
It was noted that the monitoring of prisoners using electronic means of control is carried out 24 hours a day at the Monitoring Center of the Probation Service. The set of electronic control means applied to prisoners consists of three parts. These include a mobile controller, an electronic wristband and a home signal transmitter. The mobile controller acts as a prisoner's memory book and transmits the information received from the electronic wristband to the "CHANCE" Electronic Monitoring System. The electronic wristband is attached to the prisoner's foot, above the ankle by a disposable strap and transmits the prisoner's displacement information to a mobile device. The home signal transmitter shall be installed in two, three or more numbers at the convict's place of residence, depending on the size and conditions of the place of residence.
It was reported that, the deprivation of liberty and the constant monitoring of prisoners by means of electronic control are an effective tool in their correction and prevention of recidivism. For example, decline is observed in dynamics of recidivism by prisoners, who were applied electron control means. In the past period, more than 5,000 prisoners were provided with electronic means of control. At present, more than 3,000 people using electronic control devices are being monitored at the Monitoring Center.
It was noted that, on June 29, 2020, relevant amendments were made to the Code of Execution of Punishments and Administrative Offenses in connection with the use of electronic means of control in the execution of sentences and administrative penalties, and from August 10, President Ilham Aliyev signed relevant decrees on the application of these laws. The main thing is that the implementation of public works will be monitored more effectively and electronically. After this change, the human factor in monitoring the implementation of public works will be reduced.
It was noted that, the tasks set before the Probation Service of the Ministry of Justice are being implemented successfully. The number of people detained in penitentiaries and pre-trial detention centers has recently decreased. The number of people registered with the Probation Service in 2018 increased by 24.6 percent. Last year, the growth trend continued, with more than 7.5 percent of prisoners registered with the Service. In the first seven months of this year, the number of people registered with the Probation Service increased by 7.2 percent.
In the online public discussion, electronic control means were demonstrated visually, the experience of using this equipment was discussed, and the questions of social network users were clarified.
