For any corruption crime, whether it is a bribe, embezzlement of public funds, or misappropriation of property, a person should be held liable. In total, there are 12 types of sanctions for such illegal actions in accordance with the criminal legislation of Ukraine. The most severe of them are arrest, restriction, and imprisonment. Let’s find out how they differ.
Severity of restrictions on the right to movement
These three punishments deprive a person of freedom of movement and free choice of place of residence to varying degrees. In particular, arrest and imprisonment provide for complete physical isolation of a person from society, and a sanction in the form of restriction of freedom is a detention of a convicted person in an open-type institution. There, the person is constantly monitored by employees of the institution, but there is no complete isolation from society.
Place of serving the sentence
There are two types of institutions that accommodate those sentenced to restriction or imprisonment — open and closed.
- Open institutions — these are correctional centers. Those sentenced to restriction of liberty end up there. That is, those who have committed a misdemeanor or a minor crime. They must necessarily be engaged in work, while their work is paid.
- Closed institutions — these are correctional colonies. They can be of a minimum, medium, or maximum security level. Those sentenced to imprisonment are serving their sentences in these places. Usually, correctional colonies differ from correctional centers by a stricter regime and conditions of detention of convicts.
Is there a special place for people sentenced to arrest? Yes. In Ukraine, these are detention facilities. These facilities can accommodate both adults and minors over the age of 16. However, the penalty in the form of arrest does not apply to pregnant women and women with children under the age of 7 years. The military serve their sentences in the alternative of such a facility— a military custody.
Term
If arrest and imprisonment are similar as to severity, then as to the term they are not. Thus, each of the three punishments provides for a different period of detention of the convicted person. In particular:
- arrest is imposed from 1 to 6 months;
- restriction of freedom is set from 1 to 5 years;
- imprisonment varies from 1 to 15 years, and in the case of punishment based on the totality of sentences — up to 25 years old. It is also possible to be sentenced to life imprisonment, but this is an exceptional measure of punishment that does not apply to corrupt officials.
Rights and obligations of convicted persons
Not by sanctions alone! While serving a sentence, convicted persons have the right to:
- when arrested: spend funds from their personal accounts on basic necessities, short-term meetings with relatives once a month, meetings with lawyers, correspondence, daily walks for one hour, etc.;
- in case of restriction of freedom: use their clothes, phone, money, have unlimited access to communication with relatives if certain conditions are met, permission to leave the correctional center;
- in case of imprisonment: work, remote communication, short-term visits with relatives, receiving parcels, in particular, money transfers, further disposal of funds.
However, the scope of these rights correlates with obligations. Therefore, convicts, in turn, must:
- in case of restriction of freedom: stay permanently within the correctional center, and leave it only with a special permit, live in specially designated dormitories;
- in case of imprisonment: wear the same special form of clothing, keep all money and valuables in the colony administration, and receive them only with permits, and the penalties for violating discipline are more severe.
Arrested persons are assigned the same duties as in the case of imprisonment — this is envisaged in Article 516 part 2 of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine. However, arrest remains a less severe punishment. It’s all about the shorter term of arrest.
Therefore, in their form and essence, arrest, restriction, and imprisonment are radically different. The full procedure and detailed conditions for the execution of these and other punishments are determined by the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine.