Text file: 8108.txt
author: Sony Globokar
downvotes: 4
end consideration date: 2017-02-25
id: '8108'
number comments: 5
number views: 4120
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Justice\nThe Criminal Code (CC-1; Official\
  \ Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 50/12 - UPB, 6/16 - am., 54/15 and 38/16)\
  \ provides that guilty offenders may be sentenced to imprisonment, a fine and a\
  \ ban on driving a motor vehicle (Article 46 of the CC-1).\nA prison sentence of\
  \ up to nine months may also be executed by house arrest if, in view of the dangerousness\
  \ of the convicted person, the likelihood of repetition of the offence and the personal,\
  \ family and professional circumstances of the convicted person at the time of execution\
  \ of the sentence, there is no need for the sentence to be served in an institution,\
  \ or if, owing to the sickness, disability or old age of the convicted person, it\
  \ is necessary and possible to execute the sentence in an appropriate public institution\
  \ (Article 86 of the CC-1).\nDuring the serving of the sentence, the convicted person\
  \ may not leave the building or any part of the building where the house arrest\
  \ is carried out, unless the court exceptionally permits it for a certain period\
  \ of time, when it is unavoidably necessary for the convicted person to secure the\
  \ necessities of life or medical assistance, or for the performance of work. The\
  \ court may restrict or prohibit the convicted person's contact with persons who\
  \ do not reside with him or who do not treat or care for him and may specify the\
  \ manner in which the house arrest is to be carried out. If the sentenced person,\
  \ without the permission of the court, leaves the building or a part of the building\
  \ where the house arrest is being carried out, or does so outside the time allowed,\
  \ or fails to observe the restriction or prohibition of contact, or contravenes\
  \ any other rules laid down by the court with regard to the carrying out of the\
  \ house arrest, the court may, by order, decide that the remainder of the sentence\
  \ imposed shall be carried out in an institution.\nFurthermore, the Act on the Execution\
  \ of Penal Sanctions (ZIKS-1; Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No 110/06\
  \ - UPB, 76/08, 40/09, 9/11 - ZP-1G, 96/12 - ZPIZ-2, 109/12 and 54/15) provides\
  \ in more detail that the execution of house arrest is supervised by the court itself\
  \ or through the police. The police may at any time, even without a request from\
  \ the court, check the implementation of house arrest, and must without delay inform\
  \ the court and the institution with which the house arrest has been carried out\
  \ of any breaches of house arrest (Article 12a of ZIKS-1).\nThus, in accordance\
  \ with the above, the legislator has provided for a method of execution of the sentence\
  \ of imprisonment by house arrest for cases where the convicted person is sentenced\
  \ to a term of imprisonment of up to nine months, and not for lengthy custodial\
  \ sentences, taking into account that the purpose of imposing and enforcing criminal\
  \ sanctions is to ensure respect for the law and to prevent gross violations or\
  \ threats to the legal values protected by the criminal law.\nFurthermore, with\
  \ regard to the impossibility of serving a prison sentence on medical grounds, it\
  \ should be clarified that the amendment to ZIKS-1F has newly regulated the so-called\
  \ medical ground for postponement of the execution of a prison sentence. Until the\
  \ new regulation came into force, the statutory provision allowing for the suspension\
  \ of the execution of this sentence on grounds of serious illness (Article 24(1)(1)\
  \ ZIKS-1) was rather porous and legally undeveloped in terms of terminology, which\
  \ allowed for a number of abuses of this institute. Now, however, a prison sentence\
  \ may be suspended only if the convicted person's state of health is such as to\
  \ require hospital treatment (Article 24(1)(1) ZIKS-1). In addition, a new medical\
  \ certificate on hospital treatment must be submitted to the court on a regular\
  \ monthly basis. The medical certificate must contain two constitutive elements,\
  \ namely a statement that the certificate is issued for the purpose of applying\
  \ for a deferral of the prison sentence and a description of the reasons dictating\
  \ the urgent need for the convicted person to undergo hospital treatment (Article\
  \ 24(3) ZIKS-1), thereby strengthening the condition and at the same time making\
  \ it impossible to abuse this institution. However, the amendment does not affect\
  \ the right of the convicted person to adequate health care, since health care in\
  \ penitentiary institutions is provided by the health centres in whose area the\
  \ institution operates, and health care for convicted persons may also be provided\
  \ in appropriate health centres outside the institution.\nIn addition, the amendment\
  \ to ZIKS-1F has also defined more appropriately the possibility of interruption\
  \ of imprisonment, which, in addition to the specified reasons, now also takes into\
  \ account security concerns, which are an important factor in deciding on the interruption\
  \ of imprisonment.  As stated above, the current regime already allows for the possibility\
  \ of executing a prison sentence of up to nine months by house arrest, taking into\
  \ account the fact that the method of execution of the sentence must deter the convicted\
  \ person and others from committing criminal offences; in short, it must be beneficial\
  \ both for the person being punished and for society, which is why it is not appropriate\
  \ to execute a prison sentence by house arrest in the case of lengthy custodial\
  \ sentences imposed on the convicted person. As we have also explained at length,\
  \ the 2015 amendment to the CCPS-1F introduced a new and more appropriate regulation\
  \ of the so-called medical grounds for suspending the execution of a prison sentence,\
  \ which tightened up the conditions under which the execution of a sentence may\
  \ be suspended.\nIn the light of all the above, we consider that the submitted proposal\
  \ is not suitable for further consideration.\n "
response date: 2017-04-06
response due date: null
sent date: 2017-01-27
title: Alternative to imprisonment - house arrest
upvotes: 19
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/8108
