THE CONCEALMENT OF CRIMES COMMITTED IN PLACES OF DETENTION OF LIBERTY AND THE INSTRUMENTS OF OVERCOMING THEM

Abstract

In this scientific article, we are investigate the ways of concealing crimes committed by prisoners and employees of the State Criminal Enforcement Service on the territory of a correctional institution. The commission to date of criminal offenses on the territory of a correctional institution very rarely acquires a highprofile character. This is due to many factors. One such factor is the ‘discipline’ and ‘traditions’ that have been ingrained in prisons for decades. If we talk about ‘discipline’ that has an effect on not disclosing information to outsiders, then it applies more to the staff of the correctional institution. Repressive methods of physical and psychological influence are applied to the prisoners after the prisoners disclose information related to the commission of crimes by employees of the penitentiary institution, or the disclosure of information about the latter exceeding their official powers. We single out the most common ways of concealing criminal offenses in the territory of places of deprivation of liberty, including: masking the crime; staging a crime; deception; concealment of the subject of the crime; destruction of actual data and other methods. For a more in-depth study of the problems associated with the concealment of a crime, we provide a certain list of subjects, among which the most likely subjects of concealment are the administration of the correctional institution and its staff, prisoners, and visitors to the prison. Considerable attention is paid to the ‘regime of the correctional institution’, not only as a means of maintaining law and order by the employees of the State Criminal Enforcement Service of Ukraine, but also as the main source of concealment of factual data. First of all, this is due to the fact that the conduct of investigative (search) actions on the territory of a correctional institution is regulated not only by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, but also by the Criminal and Executive Code of Ukraine and the ‘Rules of Internal Procedure of Penitentiary Institutions’. In this regard, employees of the National Police of Ukraine may be hindered by the administration of the penal institution, if the latter is not interested in the results of the pre-trial investigation. A review of preventive measures aimed at preventing the commission of a criminal offense, as well as solving the problem of concealment of committed criminal offenses in places of deprivation of liberty, is carried out.