Long-Term Prison Sentences 2001-2003 (From Selected Results of Research Activities of ICSP in the Years 2002-2004, P 41-58, 2005, Zdenek Karabec and Miroslav Scheinost, eds., -- See NCJ-212001)

• NCJ Number: 212005
• Author(s): Zdenek Karabec JUDr.; Sarka Blatnikova PhDr.; Simona Diblikova PhDr.; Alena Maresova JUDr.; Vaclav Necada JUDr.; Petr Zeman Ph.D.; Sona Krejcova JUDr.
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Institute of Criminology and Social Prevention
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Czech Republic

Annotation

This study analyzed sanction policy in the Czech Republic in terms of the imposition of long-term prison sentences.

Abstract

In comparison to countries of Western Europe, the length of prison sentences in the Czech Republic appears particularly repressive. The current analysis of the imposition of long-term prison sentences in the Czech Republic focused on an analysis of sanctions policy and on the effects of long-term imprisonment on convicted offenders. Data included statistical information on the structure of long-term prison sentences and the dynamics of their implementation as well as criminal court outcomes within the Czech Republic between the years 2001 and 2003. The effectiveness of treatment programs for prisoners was also examined. Findings indicated that the number of unconditional prison sentences imposed during the study period remained relatively stable and were most frequently employed for the crimes of murder, robbery, and assault. Judges and prosecutors viewed long-term prison sentences as critical to the fight against the most serious forms of crime. Treatment programs for prisoners were found to be well received and increasingly effective the longer the offender remained in prison. The most salient effect of long-term imprisonment on inmates involved the separation from friends and family. In closing the authors note that inmates sentenced to lengthy prison terms should be able to serve their sentences in less severe prison conditions.