THE DOCTRINAL BASIS OF THE FORMATION OF THE SOVIET PENITENTIARY POLICY

Penitentiary policy is an important element of the criminal policy of the state. It determines the strategy, goal, objectives and priority areas of the state’s activities in the execution of criminal punishments, the principles of organization and functioning of penitentiary institutions, the content of penal enforcement legislation. Penitentiary policy is based on scientifically substantiated ideas recognized by the state, which together form its doctrine. The development of the doctrinal basis of domestic penitentiary policy is impossible without taking into account the existing experience. In this regard, of particular interest is the period of the first years of Soviet power, when on the basis of Marxist theory in Russia was formed and implemented a distinctive penitentiary policy, which proved its effectiveness even in the conditions of the Civil War. As a result of the conducted research, conclusions were made that the doctrinal basis of the Soviet penitentiary policy began to be developed simultaneously with its creation; the idea of replacing the tsarist prisons with various penitentiary institutions actively using labor as a means of reeducation of criminals was put in the basis of the formation of the Soviet penal policy; the implementation of the correctional-labor policy led to the restoration of the material and technical base of production activities in prisons, the recruitment of most of the prisoners, and the creation of specialized penitentiary institutions (agricultural colonies, concentration camps, and forced labor camps), the main purpose of which was to use the labor of the detainees.