On Principles Underlying a Progressive Incarceration System
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the phenomenon of the principles of progressive incarceration system is studied at
the level of interdisciplinary connections. The systems theory and system analysis provide tools for
the structured understanding of the progressive system’s principles within the evolving framework of
penal law. In domestic legal literature, the principles of the progressive system are not studied from
these perspectives. Purpose: to more clearly demonstrate features of the inseparability of system
analysis in terms of principles of the progressive system, from the perspective of understanding how
the system should function effectively and how to achieve its goals. Methods: a dialectical method
of understanding phenomena and processes, a method of system analysis, a method of analysis
and synthesis, and a formal‑logical method. Results: the progressive system is characterized
by a set of principles that embody it at the level of interdisciplinary connections (systems theory,
system analysis, and penal law). Genetically, the principles of the progressive system are based
on the provisions constructed by the systems theory and systems analysis. A distinctive feature
of the proposed principles is their specific systemic and legal nature, the core of which is the
“systemic support” for deprivation of liberty, as well as for the related phenomena arising from the
systemic impact on the object at all stages of the progressive system. Conclusions: the following
are distinguished as the principles of a progressive system: comprehensive, complete, objective
establishment and fixation of system properties; stimulating the motivation of an object in its move
to a higher level of the system (stimulating motivation for progress); timely proper assessment
and fixation of the presence of system properties (timely establishment of system properties);
differentiation of objects by level systemic properties (systemic differentiation); individualization of
an object’s position in the system (systemic individualization); connection of input into the system,
movement in it and output with systemic effects; restart of the system in relation to an object
with antisystem indicators. All the listed principles form an integral system. The principles of a
progressive system are provisions (rules) developed by the science of penal law, which take into
account theoretical concepts of the systems theory and systems analysis and determine functioning
of the progressive system. They contribute to the proper implementation of the principles of penal
legislation in terms of providing a promising systemic resource for its individual institutions, such as
changing the conditions of serving a sentence (types of regime) within a single correctional facility,
changing the type of correctional facility, replacing the unserved part of the sentence with a more
lenient type of punishment, and parole. The principles of the progressive system are expected to be
explicitly expressed in the law. According to the author, they may be referred to in Chapter II of the
Penal Code of the Russian Federation (for persons serving a sentence of imprisonment) as “general
conditions for the step‑by‑step execution and serving of imprisonment; early release from serving
imprisonment”, in the form of rules that reflect the characteristic features of a progressive system for
executing and serving imprisonment, concerning the delineation of the level of systemic properties
typical for a person’s presence at a specific stage of the system and within its limits, and that define
the requirements for the procedure of decision‑making that affects the person’s stay at a certain
stage of the system. Other regulatory acts addressing procedural issues related to the permissibility
of the location of the subject (an accused person held in a pre‑trial detention center; a convict
sentenced to imprisonment; a person released early from serving a sentence) within the progressive
system (the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, federal laws on detention, on
probation, departmental orders) require the presence of relevant norms in this regard.
Keywords: progressive system; imprisonment; systems theory; system analysis; object; subject; principles; system properties.
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