Receiving Parcels and Packages in Russian vs. Foreign Correctional Facilities: A Comparative Study
Kutakov N.N., Metlin D.G. Receiving parcels and packages in Russian vs. foreign correctional facilities: a comparative study. Penitentiary Science, 2026, vol. 20, no. 3 (75), pp. 296–303. doi 10.46741/27132811.2026.75.3.008.
the article analyzes modern approaches to the implementation of the right of
convicts to receive parcels and packages when serving a sentence in places of deprivation of liberty
in Russia and foreign countries. Purpose: to identify common and distinctive features in the methods
and procedures for exercising the right to receive parcels and packages in prisons in foreign
countries as well as in the Russian Federation; to identify global trends in this area of legal regulation
of the procedure for serving a sentence; to propose well‑founded changes to the procedure for
exercising the right in question by convicts in Russia, taking into account the positive experience
of foreign countries. Tasks: to determine key vectors of development of the domestic penal policy
in the field of ensuring order and conditions of detention of persons in penitentiary institutions; to
consider the legal regulation of the right to receive parcels and transfers and the procedure for its
implementation; to identify potential risks to the work of penitentiary institutions when using parcels
and packages as a channel for the receipt of prohibited items; to determine the prevalence of the use
of the right to receive parcels and packages in penitentiary practice; to study the specifics of using
digital capabilities in the implementation of this right in penitentiary institutions in a number of foreign
countries; to formulate proposals for optimizing the norms of penal law in this area with regard to
foreign experience. The research methodology primarily encompasses statistical analysis and
synthesis of socio‑legal phenomena, comparative legal analysis, generalization and concretization,
as well as methods of formal and dialectical logic. The research results confirm the need to improve
procedural security in the area of accepting parcels and packages, as well as to optimize the
possibility of purchasing food products and essential items of a wider range and higher quality in
stores affiliated with penitentiary institutions. Conclusions: most penitentiary systems in foreign
countries have legally established the right of convicts to receive parcels and packages. Current
statistics on the exercise of this right by convicts in Russia confirm its significance. Meanwhile, there
is an urgent need, including for the purpose of preventing and stopping the entry of prohibited items
into the territory of penitentiary institutions, to apply the foreign experience of online services for
convicts’ relatives to send parcels.
Keywords: prisoner; parcel; transfer; penitentiary institution; prohibited item; inspection; procedural security; foreign experience.
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