Letter to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine regarding the resolution of the issue of convicts receiving parcels and deliveries

TO THE PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF UKRAINE

On 12 August 2008, we appealed to you with a request to inform us which regulatory legal act employees of criminal-executive institutions and pre-trial detention centres should be guided by when deciding the issue of the number of parcels and packages received by convicts in connection with the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which recognised points 36-100 of Section 2 “Amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine” as not complying with the Constitution of Ukraine, i.e., points 70 and 71 of the Law “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2008” regarding the wording of Article 112 of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine, namely in the part of the unlimited right of convicts to receive parcels, deliveries, and packages, as unconstitutional.
We hoped that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine would exercise its right, which is provided for in clause 1 of paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Prosecutor’s Office”, and would protest point 13 of the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 530 dated 23 May 2008, by which it was established that the number of parcels (deliveries) and packages received in accordance with Articles 112, 138, 139, 140, 143, and 151 of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine (1129-15) by convicts serving sentences in correctional and educational colonies, and the number of parcels (deliveries) and money transfers received in accordance with Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On Pre-trial Detention” (3352-12) by persons taken into custody, is not limited.
Our appeal dated 29.08.2008, No. 16-31416-05, was sent by the Prosecutor General’s Office to the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments.
On 16 September 2008, under No. 190-B-4138, the organisation received a response that surprises us. In it, we were informed that “the issue of determining the procedure for receiving parcels (deliveries) and packages by persons sentenced to imprisonment has been studied repeatedly in the Department, and to resolve it, consultations were held with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine”.
According to clause 38 of Order No. 275 of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments dated 25.12.2003, the procedure for receiving parcels (deliveries) by persons sentenced to imprisonment is clearly defined.
Public organisations that are concerned with the problems of ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of convicts are equally concerned about both ensuring everyone's right to life, protection from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment of a convict, respect for their private life, and observance of other fundamental rights and freedoms, and the state of the legislative framework that should ensure these rights and freedoms.
It is dangerous that different legal norms, which regulate the same legal relations (the right of convicts to receive parcels (deliveries) and packages), exist simultaneously.
An employee may choose at their own discretion to apply the provisions of either the Criminal Executive Code or the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which they deem most acceptable, which will inevitably lead to a violation of the rights and legitimate interests of convicts.
Since, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Prosecutor’s Office”, the prosecutor’s office is entrusted with supervision over the observance of laws during the execution of court decisions, and the subject of supervision is the observance of legality during the stay of persons in penal institutions and during pre-trial detention, we ask you to inform us how many parcels (deliveries) convicts and detainees have the right to receive.

Sincerely, Director of the charitable organisation
“Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre”,
V. Badyra