THE PENAL SYSTEM IN 2011: STATISTICS

In 2011, the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine managed to stop the trend of the last two years towards an increase in the prison population. According to the department's data, as of 01/02/2012, in 183 places of detention of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine (hereinafter – DPTsU), there were 153,430 people (on 01/01/2011 - 154,027 people), i.e., over the year, the number of people in places of detention decreased by 597 people (- 0.39%). It is worth noting that by the middle of the year, their number was 157,866 people. A slight decrease in the number of prisoners was achieved due to a noticeable decrease in the number of residents in pre-trial detention centres, as the number of convicted persons increased over the year from 113,917 people (in January 2010 - 108,187 people) to 116,107 people, i.e., by 2,190 people, or by + 1.92%. They are held in 142 penal institutions, including

in 9 minimum-security institutions with general conditions for holding men — 6,108 people;

in 35 medium-security institutions for first-time offenders — 36,524 people;

in 41 medium-security institutions for repeat offenders — 44,735 people;

in 9 maximum-security institutions — 4,335 people;

in 6 minimum-security institutions with lenient conditions for holding men — 963 people.

Instead, the number of residents in the 33 pre-trial detention centres in 2011 decreased by 3,377 people (- 8.6%) — from 39,363 people (on 01/07/2010 – 40,024 people) to 35,986 people, of which 4,156 people are at the pre-trial investigation stage, and 16,871 people are at the court investigation stage (before the verdict is passed).

Obviously, a significant number of pre-trial detention centre residents are being held by the courts and are awaiting their decisions on appeals.

The number of life-sentenced individuals increased by 67 people over the year (by 90 people in 2010, by 68 people in 2009) and amounted to 1,763 people as of 01/02/2012. Those sentenced for a term of over 10 years amount to 12.6 thousand people, and 987 people are serving their sentence in the form of arrest.

In 13 colonies for holding women, there are 6,108 people; a year ago, 6,731 women were incarcerated. In 8 educational colonies for minors, 1,337 people are serving sentences.

The dynamics of the number of individuals in the department’s institutions over the last eight years are presented in the table

According to DPTsU data, the criminogenic composition of those sentenced to deprivation of liberty is as follows:
17.1 thousand people are serving sentences for intentional homicide, including
8.6 thousand people who committed homicide under aggravating circumstances;
9.8 thousand people — for intentional grievous bodily harm;
29.5 thousand people — for robbery, burglary, and extortion;
2.3 thousand people — for rape;
24 people for hostage-taking;
21.9 thousand people — for crimes in the sphere of trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors, and other crimes against public health.

Under the supervision of 703 subdivisions of the criminal-executive inspection, there are 168,024 people sentenced to criminal punishments not related to deprivation of liberty and administrative penalties.

The activities of the criminal-executive service are supported by 46.1 thousand employees, with a staff size of 52.3 thousand positions.

The activities of the DPTsU in 2011 are characterized by the following indicators

At 88 penal institutions, vocational training schools function, in which almost 9 thousand convicted persons are studying. General education for convicted persons is provided by 151 general education institutions. Of these: in 58 institutions — evening schools, 74 — classes (groups) with evening form of education, 19 — educational-consultation points. Over 14 thousand convicted persons are involved in general education.

To satisfy the religious needs of convicted persons, 127 religious buildings function, of which: 76 — temples; 47 — chapels; 4 — prayer houses.

The manufacturing sector of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine is represented by 128 industrial and 11 agricultural enterprises.

Until recently, the DPTsU website contained a “statistics” subsection, which had quite a lot of statistical information about the department’s activities. At the beginning of 2012, the site updated its design, but in the updated version of the site, such a subsection is no longer present. Perhaps this happened as a result of the consistent implementation of the trend towards greater openness in the activities of the criminal-executive system.