2007 - Forced Labour

THE ROLE OF FORCED LABOUR
IN ELIMINATING SOCIAL EXCLUSION

Riga, 2007

FACTUM. The Role of Forced Labour in Eliminating Social Exclusion 2007

i

The study The Role of Forced Labour in Eliminating Social Exclusion was
performed by SIA FACTUM with 75% financial support of European Union from
the European Social Fund and 25% financial support of Latvian State budget
(project identification number: VPD1/ESF/NVA/06/GS/3.1.5.3./0001/0043). This
report of study results reveals the point of view of the work group (SIA FACTUM
employees involved) and therefore by no means it may be considered as a
presentation of the opinion of the European Community or Latvian State.

Authors: Oksana abko, Dzintars Izks, Lelde Kpia, Dace Lse, Ieva Medne,
Vera Mihejeva.

The authors of the study are grateful to Iveta Bitne, Renrs Felcis, Juris Tips
and Andris Vaitekns for their contribution in the study and to Ilona Linde from
the State Probation Service for ideas and support.

Cover Marquette: Anitra Eglte
Cover Photo: Harijs Liepi (foto projektu apvienba Koci un Putni)
Composed matter: Anitra Eglte
Publisher: SIA Factum
Press: Silca Printi

The study The Role of Forced Labour in Eliminating Social Exclusion gives
analyses of obstacles and prejudices that hinder application of the forced labour
as a criminal sentence to offenders and practical execution of the sentence. The
topicality of the study is determined by conformity of the nature of forced labour
with the objective of Latvian State to eliminate the social exclusion in different
social risk groups, and the problem of the study is determined by the novelty of
forced labour as punishment and perceptions on its insufficient dissemination.
Using the data of in-depth interviews with judges, employers and State Probation
Service staff and of public opinion poll, currently prevailing opinions about forced
labour as a criminal punishment, its suitability in punishing different offenders
who have committed less serious crimes and problems of practical sentence
execution were characterized. In order to increase the efficiency of the forced
labour it is necessary to ensure that the sentence is imposed on those offenders
who are capable of feeling it. It would help the State Probation Service to attract
new employers required for ensuring the execution of a sentence. It is necessary
on the state level to deal with materially technical problems of executive bodies
that indirectly affect the quality of the forced labour sentence execution.

(c) FACTUM, 2007

ISBN 978-9984-39-301-8

ii
DEFINITION OF TERMS

Forced labour a criminal sentence that provides for involvement of a
convict in public work. The convict serves this sentence by doing specific
work in the area of residence in free time outside the regular employment
or studies and without remuneration. Lists of public works in which the
convicts sentenced to the community service shall be employed, are
prepared by municipalities.

Probation a system of execution of a criminal sentence forced labour
and compulsory measure of a correctional nature community service as
well as measures of supervision of probation clients and social behaviour
correction that has been developed to prevent the recidivism of a criminal
offence.

Probation client a conditionally convicted person; a person who is
conditionally released before the end of the term; a person against whom
the criminal process has been dismissed, conditionally releasing from
criminal liability; a person under sentencing of the forced labour; a person
applied community service; a person who is sentenced to forced labour
upon the public prosecutors injunction; a person whom the court, public
prosecutor or imprisonment administration has required an assessment
report about; a person who has committed a crime and has agreed to
participate in reconciliation.

Employers municipal institutions and enterprises or non-governmental
and public benefit organizations which have entered into agreement with
the forced labour execution institution on employing convicted persons or
which are employing convicted persons for public benefit without an
agreement, assigning the convict a respective work which they can do in
their free time outside the regular employment or studies.

State Probation Service (SPS) a state institution that cares for the public
security working with people serving the criminal sentence in community
(conditional sentences, forced labour) and helps to former prisoners
return into the society.

1
INTRODUCTION

The study The Role of Forced Labour in Eliminating Social Exclusion was
performed within the period of 15 January 2007 to 15 September 2007 by
SIA FACTUM with 75% financial support of European Union from the
European Social Fund and 25% financial support of Latvian State budget.
The overall objective of the project was to elaborate recommendations in
order to facilitate imposing forced labour to offenders as a sentence
stimulating social integration, replacing punishment with deprivation of
liberty that intensifies the social exclusion of the risk group.

The study had three direct objectives. First of all, in order to facilitate
wider application of the criminal sentence forced labour it was necessary
to set barriers, obstacles and prejudices that hinder the application of the
sentence to offenders and its practical execution covering all direct and
indirect target groups. Secondly, it was necessary to give practical
recommendations to representatives of penal application and supervisory
institutions in order to improve the socially favourable effect of the forced
labour. Thirdly, it was necessary to find out what information on the role
of forced labour in eliminating social exclusion should be given to social
partners, agents forming public opinion and persons involved in
developing policies in order to facilitate an understanding of the nature of
a punishment and public benefits.

The topicality of the study is determined by the fact that the nature of the
criminal sentence forced labour conforms to the objective of Latvian
State to eliminate the social exclusion in different social risk groups
including also the former prisoners, and that forced labour as a penalty is
introduced in Latvia rather recently. Until now independent studies on
problems of application of the forced labour as a criminal sentence in
Latvia and public opinion polls on attitude towards forced labour have
been carried out, however, statistical surveys show that a proportionally
large part of criminal sentences still envisage imprisonment. It means that
even though theoretically a part of convicts sentenced to imprisonment
may have been imposed forced labour, such solution has not enrooted in
the practice. Therefore it is necessary to study in more detail the
obstacles to applying the criminal sentence forced labour in order to
elaborate recommendations for improving the penal efficiency.

Taking into account that application of the forced labour to a much greater
extent depends on a decision of representatives of those institutions which
are responsible for ensuring order and rule of law in the country, mainly
experience and attitude towards this type of sentence of those
professionals who define the environment of penalty application were
explored within the study. These target groups are judges, employers
whose set tasks the convicted persons perform and the State Probation
2
Service staff. It was also necessary to define awareness and support of
inhabitants of Latvia for a wider application of the forced labour because a
positive public opinion is an essential argument for a decision maker.
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Theoretically application of the criminal sentence forced labour gives the
society two vital benefits. The first benefit is that the convicted persons
serve the sentence in the community that means that the person is both
punished, and valuable and necessary community work is done. The
convict serves the sentence in the free time outside the regular
employment and studies, performing without remuneration tasks assigned
by the employer. The second benefit is that punishing a person an
understanding on public norms and values is obstructed that is more
potential to occur at the imprisonment places. Such system in general
reduces the public resources to be spent to maintain the imprisonment
system un ensure a possibility to integrate in the public life for those
convicted persons who have served the sentence in imprisonment
institutions.

The data of the public opinion poll performed within the study show that
although the majority of inhabitants of Latvia have heard something about
forced labour, it is rather superficial view. Another 20% of inhabitants of
Latvia admit that they do not know anything or have not heard about
forced labour. Regardless of the fact that the public awareness about the
forced labour should be increased, people in general consider that the
most appropriate punishment for a less serious offence is real correction
work or community work without remuneration that by definition is forced
labour.

Both the society and field professionals (judges, State Probation Service
staff) are of the same opinion that forced labour is appropriate for
punishing adults for less serious crimes. It is because the forced labour
gives an opportunity to think over the offence, they feel a sense of shame,
work accustoms to discipline, and there is a possibility to reimburse the
harm incurred to the society without remuneration. So at large there are
favourable preconditions for the development of forced labour in Latvia.
The public opinion coincides with the aim of the state policy to develop a
penal diversity, in particular as concerns punishing less severe offences
and development of a system of community-based sentences. However,
the work with the public opinion shall be continued explaining, first, which
offences are possible and which are impossible to be punished with the
forced labour, and, second, why forced labour is a punishment. The last is
important because a part of the society, in particular, the middle and older
generations consider that work may not be punishment work is a moral
value. Here a connection between a persons harm to the society and its
atonement working for public benefit and redeeming the harm shall be
strengthened.

4
In Latvia forced labour is being imposed since 1999. Initially its realization
faced practical implementation problems because the sentence execution
was handed over to municipalities without envisaging funding for it. The
execution of the forced labour improved when its supervision was taken
over by the State Probation Service. It in its turn facilitated the growth of
the judges positive attitude as a result the forced labour was imposed
more frequently. Yet, statistics of the division of types of sentences
among convicted persons in Latvia show that forced labour has not
become a real alternative to imprisonment as it should be if a system of
community-based sentences is to be developed, but in most cases it has
replaced a conditional imprisonment or penalty fee. If the proportion of
imprisonment is to be reduced, first the difficulties of the forced labour
execution analysed in the study report shall be solved; second,
possibilities to combine forced labour with other sentences (additional
sentence or conditional principle) shall be envisaged, and, third, several
comparatively small sentences and partial community-based sentences
shall be developed. The fact that the repetition of a less serious crime is
punished with imprisonment of several years which means a very fast
increase of penal severity indirectly reduces the efficiency of the forced
labour at large. It is impossible to achieve a positive effect in a situation
when there is no flexible penal system developed in the country with a
gradual increase of penal severity, in particular, working with young
offenders.

If the State Probation Service wants to participate actively in reducing the
proportion of imprisonment and increasing the rate of community-based
sentences, an action plan should be developed (for internal use at least)
for the nearest 5 7 years. The aim of the plan is to set what decrease of
the imprisonment rate the State Probation Service staff would like to
achieve working actively with probation clients. The plan would also allow
defining what amendments to regulations should be made and what
materially technical resources should be attracted for improving operation
of the State Probation Service in order to achieve the set objective.

Forced labour is served in the free time outside the regular employment
and studies without remuneration doing the tasks assigned by the
employer. Most often the convicts are given low-qualified tasks whose
execution it is difficult to hire workers for. Employers are state, municipal
institutions and enterprises and non-governmental (public benefit)
organizations. The data of the study show that an effective execution of
the forced labour sentence is hindered by employers cautious attitude
towards the convicted persons. Developing a public opinion on the
objectives of forced labour and persons who are imposed this criminal
sentence, a particular work is needed with employers in order to convince
them that forced labour performers are not dangerous to the society.

In a way difficulties in working with employers are caused by the condition
that forced labour is imposed also to persons with alcohol and drug
5
addiction and in that case it is hard to achieve the sentence execution
according to the procedure set forth in the law. Professional opinions
gathered within the study show that the limited possibilities to undergo
treatment of addictions restricts the capacity of the court or State
Probation Service to affect, correct or change people with addictions in
any way. In order to solve this problem, changes to the law would be
required that would envisage a possibility to combine forced labour like a
conditional sentence with certain duties, for instance, to participate in
activities whose aim is to involve a person in addiction supervision
programmes. Judges admit that in case the law provided for, they could
sentence smaller number of forced labour hours with a condition that a
person with addiction problems voluntarily undergoes treatment or
participates in the respective behaviour correction activities.

As not always the court manages to determine the offenders alcohol
addiction and apply an additional sentence (here a respective behaviour
correction measure) it would be advisable to review the authorities of the
State Probation Service and let its employees propose additional sentence
in cases when it is observed that the convict holds back the execution of
forced labour due to problems caused by alcohol abuse.

The data of the study show that another complicated group of offenders is
minors and young people. On one hand minors are that group whose
prevention from further offences both the judges and State Probation
Service employees care for most. On the other hand the young people are
not always capable to evaluate the seriousness and consequences of the
crime that turn up if they evade the imposed forced labour. In order to
realize the objective of the community-based sentence the young people
need help to learn to control their behaviour and change it. Professionals
have observed that forced labour without an additional punishment may
not ensure realization of the above mentioned objective. Therefore a
possibility to combine the forced labour with additional sentences should
be envisaged, for instance, participation in behaviour correction activities,
arrests of short duration if the convict evades the execution of the forced
labour. However a prolonged arrest applied to minors evading the forced
labour may leave a negative effect on youths ability to integrate in the
society. In order for the correction programmes to achieve the maximum
effect it would be advisable to involve in behaviour correction activities not
only the youngster but also his family because the causes of offences are
to be looked for in the youngsters family, its communication culture and
experience.

Another substantial circumstance that prevents employers from
participating in the forced labour execution is the need to involve their
employees in giving appropriate tasks and supervising the convicts.
Forced labour performers most often serve the sentence in the working
day evenings (after official working hours) or at weekends as a result both
the employers representative and employee of the State Probation
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Service is forced to work outside working hours. It should be noted that
most often the employers representatives do not get any extra pay for
participating in forced labour supervision that causes dissatisfaction and
efforts to avoid joining in employing forced labour performers. Although
joining in organizing the forced labour, the employer gets free labour
force, the need to work outside working hours is considered to be a loss. A
part of employers indicated that their possibilities to assign a person
serving the criminal sentence performable work are limited as a result the
employers of the State Probation Service face difficulties of organizing the
sentence execution. To this effect it is necessary to attract new, additional
employers and for the purpose of working with them the public confidence
in efficiency of the forced labour shall be strengthened.

To increase the responsiveness of employers, attention shall be paid to
three aspects. First, situations that an employee supervising forced labour
performers is not reimbursed for the time spent and additional work
duties must be eliminated. Second, employers communication with the
convicts of a risk group that reduces employers desire to further co-
operate with the State Probation Service shall be decreased. Third, a
professional and mutually pleasant communication between the employer
and State Probation Service shall be developed explaining that inspections
carried out by the Service employees are a part of the convict supervision
and care for the employer, not control of the employer and distrust.

Efficiency of the forced labour execution is substantially influenced by
materially technical equipment of the State Probation Service offices and
capacity of their staff to perform the entrusted duties. The data of the
study show that the workload of the State Probation Service employees
differs in the big cities and regional structural units in particular in Riga
there is an insufficient number of positions. Both in Riga and in regions
employees of the State Probation Service adjust their control visits
according to the peculiarities of the forced labour execution, namely, most
often it is done in the working day evenings and at weekends. Quite often
it is difficult for the State Probation Service staff to receive a
reimbursement for time spent for control of the forced labour performers
outside the working hours. In regions where the State Probation Service
employees have a higher physical and emotional workload, there is higher
staff rotation that leaves a negative impact on the Service operation at
large and the efficiency of the forced labour sentence.

Recommendations:

As a part of the society, judges and employers considers that work
may not be a punishment because it is moral value, the link
between the harm or threat to the society and its compensation
with the benefit what the offender gives with his work to the
society shall be strengthened. It will help to raise the public and
employers understanding of the aim and nature of the punishment.
7

In order to reduce the degradating impact of a prolonged
imprisonment on the convict and efficiency of the community-based
sentence it is necessary to make amendments to the regulations of
Latvia with an aim to establish a greater gradation of penal severity
and possibility to apply combined sentences according to the West
European penal practice, for instance, to combine forced labour with
electronically controlled house arrest over the definite period of
time, in case of failing to perform which, the convict is put in a
special, separated imprisonment institution for a comparatively
short time (one week, two weeks, and alike).

If a minor is put in a juvenile correctional institution for incomplete
hours of the forced labour it is advisable to develop a system of
appeal for youth whose time of arrest exceeds one month. The
youngster staying in a juvenile correctional institution shall, on his
own initiative in a form of application or discussion with the State
Probation Service staff and administration of correctional institution
ask to reconsider his stay at the juvenile correctional institution. A
decision of replacing the arrest with another type of punishment will
be made in a collegiate meeting evaluating the change of the
youngsters behaviour and attitude.

It is necessary to consider various possibilities to motivate
employers participate in the forced labour execution. First, a
possibility to reimburse the employers employees involved in
supervision of the forced labour performers for the time spent shall
be considered. One way of reimbursement would be a pay for
supervision of each convict, another setting forth in the legal
regulations a possibility of being assigned additional paid vacation
days. Second, a regular expression of appreciation (in country-wide
and local mass media, in seminars organized by the State Probation
Service for the employers) shall be continued to all employers
naming each one separately regardless of the number of the forced
labour performers employed.

Taking into account difficulties of attracting new employers for the
forced labour execution, in particular those whose management is
located in the capital city, a possibility shall be considered that the
large scale attraction of employers for the forced labour execution
country-wide is carried out by the State Probation Service agreeing
on cooperation of institutions on the top management level so that
the local departments were only left to agree on particular
organizational issues.

It is advisable for the State Probation Service to consider a
possibility of establishing a separate position whose main task would
be maintaining communication with employers and attraction of new
8
employers. The job responsibilities would include motivation of the
existing employers and maintaining daily individual contact.

A difference of workload of the State Probation Service staff in Riga
and regions must be appropriately considered. It is necessary to
define how many simultaneous probation client cases are considered
appropriate for a full-time job taking into account the area of the
territory covered (area of the region in which the supervision of
probation clients shall be carried out). It will let to define an equal
system of additional pay for fulfilling extra duties in case the
number of cases for one employee exceeds the set limit. It will help
to define the optimum number of client cases and respective budget
of wages.
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I THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

1.1. Development trends of the contemporary system of
criminal sentences

Appearance of the forced labour as a criminal sentence in the world is
connected with the implementation of the new approach to penal policy.
Implementation of alternative sentences in the contemporary western
culture is analysed by David Garland in his writing The Culture of Control:
Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society
1

. The author contrasts
two ages. The first of them an ideology of penal welfarism dominated
in the western culture from late 19th century until 70-ties of the 20th
century when crime prevention and judicial authorities were satiated with
ideals of penalty improvement and rehabilitation. The second age started
in 70-ties of the 20th century when the role of such concepts as risk
management, deprivation of rights and repayment or indemnification
increased. Inspired from Michel Foucault
2
and using the experience of
case-law of USA and Great Britain D. Garland concludes that the last
decades are time characterized by a lack of certain and clear values and
truths and also clear overall political vision in forensics and judicial field.
The new models of thinking and action that in 80-ties and 90-ties along
with denial of the old assumptions and professional orientation rapidly
developed in forensics, created a sense of value and professional crisis
both for this field professionals and theoreticians. D. Garland writes: No
one is quite sure what is radical and what is reactionary. Private prisons,
victim impact statements, sentencing guidelines, electronic monitoring,
punishments in the community, quality of life policing, restorative justice
these and dozens of other developments lead us into unfamiliar territory
where the ideological lines are far from clear and where the old
assumptions are an unreliable guide
3
.

Crime combating and criminal justice institutions are one part of the state
administration and social order network which in the contemporary society
is formed by judicial system, labour market and state welfare institutions,
complementing and supporting each other. The crime control field is
characterized by patterns of action of two different forces and models: the
formal controls exercised by the states criminal justice agencies and the
informal social controls that are embedded in the everyday activities and
interactions of civil society. D. Garland admits that too often our attention
focuses on the states institutions and neglects the informal social

1
Garland D. The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society.
Oxford University Press, 2001
2
Foucalt M. Discipline and Punish. Omnia mea, 2001
3
Oxford University Press, 2001; page 4.
10
practices upon which state action depends. However, a reconfigured field
of crime control involves more than just a change in societys response to
crime. It also entails new practices of controlling behaviour and doing
justice, revised conceptions of social order and social control, and altered
ways of maintaining social cohesion and managing group relations.

D. Garland has described a range of the most important changes in penal
policy occurring over the last thirty years. The most significant changes
relate to (1) the decline of the rehabilitative ideal, (2) the re-emergence
of punitive sanctions and expressive justice, (3) changes in the emotional
tone of crime policy, (4) the return of the victim as an important concept,
(5) updating of the role of protecting the public, (6) the reinvention of the
prison, (7) the transformation of criminological thought, (8) the expanding
infrastructure of crime prevention and community safety, and (9) the
commercialization of crime control.

The decline of the rehabilitative ideal over the last decades manifests so
that the goals of penal institutions involve reduced emphasis upon
rehabilitation of offenders and changes are made in sentencing law that
uncouple participation in treatment programmes from the length of
sentence served. Although various rehabilitative programmes do continue
to operate in prisons and elsewhere, they no longer claim to express the
overarching ideology of correctional system but are targeted towards
certain high risk groups such as drug or alcohol addicts, violent offenders
or sex offenders. However, in general the overall fall from grace of
rehabilitation as an ideal is hugely significant and it shows that one of the
main keystones of the modern penal system is being questioned and even
unravelled.

As concerns the re-emergence of punitive sanctions and expressive
justice, it is to be reminded that till the end of the twentieth century
penalties that appeared explicitly retributive or deliberately harsh were
considered as anachronisms that had no place within a modern penal
system. In the last twenty years, however, we have seen an opposite
trend: precise and fixed punitive sanctions are ever more established as a
response to excessively individualized punishments, besides in the US it
is observed that politicians and legislatures ever more frequently speak of
just deserts retribution or equal retribution as well as in separate
States they express a need for the death penalty or corporal punishment.
Forms of public shaming and humiliation that have been previously denied
and criticized may be observed in the US, for instance, in the new laws on
public notification of sex offenders identities or wearing of the convict
striped uniform. It also appears in milder British equivalents as
development of the paedophile register, the requirement of prisoner
uniform and demeaning labour for those doing community service.

Comparatively lately such crime aspect as public resentment the
feelings or anger, resentment and fear of the victims, family and public
11
appeared in the public discussions. In response to the victims feelings,
there has been a change in the law and development of the penal policy,
and a need for condemnation, punishment or perceptible and expressive
penalty for offence is openly accredited. Such open embrace of previously
discredited purposes is another important feature of the new philosophy of
punishment, stressing the symbolic, expressive and communicative
aspects of penal sanctioning.

D. Garland indicates that the dominant tone in the former official policy
was one of confident progress in combating crime and rationalizing
criminal justice. The previous penal reforms were based on such
progressive sense of justice where decency or humanity, a compassion for
the needs and rights of the less fortunate counted. These sentiments were
probably to a certain extent the aspirational values of political elites rather
than the sensibilities of the general public. Although the mentioned values
are still invoked and embodied in particular legal norms, for instance, they
form the basis for the principle of restorative justice, humanity no longer
sets the emotional tone for public discourse about crime and punishment.
At the end of the twentieth century public fear of crime has come to be
regarded as one of the main social problems.

Public opinion studies in the US and Great Britain show ever growing
sense of the public that crime rates are getting worse and the policies and
programmes in place are unable to ensure efficient enough public security.
The stock welfarist image of the delinquent as a disadvantaged,
deserving, subject of need has now all but disappeared; instead the
images conjured up to accompany new legislation tend to be stereotypical
depictions of unruly youth, dangerous predators and incorrigible career
criminals. Accompanying these projected images the new discourse of
crime policy consistently invokes an angry public, tired of living in fear and
demanding stronger measures of punishment and protection. Although the
idea of prisons as correctional institutions has not quite proved right, the
modern role of a prison has gained a new shift. It is a security measure
that protects the society from baddies, and punishment for the offence
in general strong enough and needed base of public order.

The return of the concept and meaning of the victim in the criminal justice
policy is a new trend for the last three decades. If before the victims
needs were subsumed under the general public interest, the image of
direct victims, their families, potential victims or the figure of the victim at
large (usually childs, womans or grieving familys) is put in the podium
now serving for politicians to substantiate the required changes to criminal
penalties. D. Garland notes that the symbolic role of the victim that has
grown and started to live its collective life, has an important social
meaning. This publicized image of the victim or it-could-be-you serves
as a metonym for a problem of security that has become a defining
feature of contemporary culture. At the same time it is no longer sufficient
to subsume the individual victims experience in the notion of some public
12
good. Victims have a voice making victim impact statements, being
consulted about punishment and decisions about release. In general it is a
new cultural theme, a new collective meaning of victimhood, a reworked
relationship between the individual victim, the symbolic victim and the
public institutions of crime control and criminal justice. Public security
comes first this is a thesis that has gained a new contemporary
meaning. There is an emphasis upon the need for security; prisons have
been reinvented as an effective security measure. The alternative
punishment may be applied only after careful definition and evaluation of
the possible risks. Consequently, the function of Probation Services
related to the evaluation and monitoring has become more significant than
the role of the social work carried out by these Services.

Considering the transformation of criminological thought it can be seen
that the dominant criminological ideas that shaped policy during the post-
war period were those of abnormal psychology and sociological theories
that described anomie (lack of functioning of habitual moral norms), social
and relative deprivation, subcultural theory, etc. Explanation of crime
involves those individuals who were deprived of proper education or family
socialization, or job opportunities, or proper treatment for their abnormal
psychological disposition. D. Garland concludes that over the last years a
different set of ideas had had ever more significant influence upon
government policies, namely, control theories. The concept of the lack of
opportunities was replaced by a new concept of the lack of control. Crime
was explained by inadequate social controls or self-controls and it was
considered that improvement of overall monitoring would be a measure of
reducing crime. Criminology theories now are more related to everyday
life, such as rational choice theory, crime as opportunity and situational
crime prevention. A shift has occurred from the criminal individual towards
the criminal event and existence of criminogenic situations. The new
criminal policy advice is: (1) to reduce opportunities of criminogenic
situations, (2) to increase situational and social controls, and (3) to
modify everyday routines. As a result in the US and Great Britain ever less
focus is on the welfare and needs of the deprived social groups or
individuals.

While national crime debates focus upon punishment, prisons and criminal
justice, an infrastructure has been assembled at the local level that
addresses crime in a quite different manner. Different programmes and
activities (such as Community Policing, Safer Cities programs,
Neighbourhood Watch, etc) all of these overlapping and interconnecting,
and forming the new crime control system. A great role is assigned to the
police and probation services, and the new infrastructure is oriented
towards crime prevention, security, harm-reduction, loss-reduction, and
fear-reduction. Those are quite different from the traditional goals of
criminal policy that include prosecution, punishment and criminal justice.

13
D .Garland considers that one of the most interesting features of
contemporary preventive practices and authorities is that it straddles the
dividing line between public and private. Over the last centuries the
states specialist institutions of criminal justice have dominated the crime
combating but now the changes have reached this field, too. Today we see
a development that enlists the activity of citizens, communities and
companies that utilize new, different techniques and methods. Moreover,
public institutions (prisons, probation, courts) are now being remodelled
based on the principles of public and private partnership. Emergence of
business management principles is observed also in the criminal justice
field the state institutions and organizations operating in this sphere are
gradually overtaking the generally accepted parameters of the quality of
work and management measures. Across the system as a whole new ways
of collecting and processing information or financial auditing expand. The
emphasis upon the cost-effective management of risks and resources has
produced a system that is increasingly selective in its responses to crime
and offending. There is an identification of different target groups and
segmentation of offenders(such as high-risk offenders, career criminals,
accidental offenders or repeat victims); efficient use of criminal justice
resources (investigative resources, court calendars, probation supervision
and prison places); establishment of new and effective punitive sanctions
(diversion, cautioning, statutory fines) thus conserving expensive custody
resources for the more dangerous individuals and decriminalizing less
dangerous offenders. This trend, however, does not refer to the whole
penal system and as mentioned before, sometimes quite reverse response
is observed issues of criminal policy are solved in a populistic way that is
proved by the trend of the growth of the prison population over the last
years.

The above mentioned findings that according to David Garland
characterize the modern history of the US and UK criminal justice, may be
also used in the evaluation of the situation of Latvia. The development of
our different law, fifty years experience of the Soviet law, has let us make
a completely new model of criminal justice where it is worth using both
positive and negative lessons of other countries. One of the most
important conclusions is that responses or attitude towards crime and
offender form along with the changes in ones thinking and perception that
is, in its turn, closely related to the economic, social and cultural changes
in the society.

1.2. Concept of the criminal sentence forced labour and
order of execution in Latvia

14
Forced labour a criminal sentence that provides for involvement of a
convict in public work
4
. The convict serves this sentence by doing specific
work in the area of residence in free time outside the regular employment
or studies and without remuneration. Section 40 of the Criminal Law sets
forth that forced labour shall be determined for a term of forty to two
hundred and eighty hours and it is not applicable to disabled persons and
soldiers. If a person, in bad faith, evades serving the sentence, a court
shall substitute a custodial arrest for the unserved sentence, calculating
two hours of work as one day of the custodial arrest.

In Latvia forced labour was introduced in 1999 as one of alternative
penalties to deprivation of liberty. The main arguments in the favour of
introducing alternative punishments and community-based sentences to
deprivation of liberty are: (1) saving tax payers money for supporting the
convict in imprisonment and (2) decrease of recidivism of violations
because an effectively organized work for public benefit has an educating
role.

In Latvia the definition of a sentence as provided for in the Criminal Law
sets forth that a sentence is a compulsory measure which a court within
the limits of this Law adjudges on behalf of the State against persons
guilty of the commission of a criminal offence
5
. The objective of the
sentence is to punish the offender for a committed criminal offence, as
well as to achieve that the convicted person and other persons comply
with the law and refrain from committing criminal offences
6
. Describing
the penal policy in Latvia V. Liholaja sets out three directions for the goal
that the legislator is trying to achieve providing for the punishment for
committing a criminal offence: (1) to punish the guilty person, (2) to
prevent this person from further violations and to achieve that he/she
observes the law in future (i.e. special prevention), and (3) to achieve
that other persons comply with the law and refrain from committing
criminal offences (i.e. general prevention). In order to reach this goal, the
courts imposed sentence shall be legitimate, fair and human but the
respective institutions shall ensure the execution of the courts imposed
sentence.
7
.

The forced labour like other compulsory measures is imposed on the
criminal offender by the court or within the limits of the Law set forth by
the prosecutors injunction regarding the penalty
8
. Section 5 of the Latvian
Penalty Execution Code provides for that the State Probation Service

4
Information provided by the State Probation Service: www.probacija.lv
5
Saeima of the Republic of Latvia Criminal Law, Paragraph 1 and 2 of Section 35
Latvijas Vstnesis, 2005 2007 Amended law of 01.01.2007.
6
Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, Paragraph 3 of Section 35. Latvijas Vstnesis, 2005
2007 Amended law of 01.01.2007.
7
Liholaja V. What is the Penal Policy in Latvia Latvijas Vstnesis 26.10.2004;
02.11.2004 Appendix Jurista vrds /Lawyers Opinion/.
8
Criminal Law, Section 35
15
executes the criminal sentence forced labour. The order of execution of
the forced labour set forth in the Latvian Penalty Execution Code
9
provides
for that the convict sentenced to the forced labour is obliged within five
working days from the day the court judgement comes into force to
register for serving the imposed sentence with the forced labour execution
institution according to the declared place of residence. Provided that the
convict does not register within the set period of time with the forced
labour execution institution in order to evade serving the sentence, he is
warned in writing about replacing the forced labour with a custodial arrest.

The State Probation Service organizes the execution of the forced labour
according to Section 134 of the Penalty Execution Code: lists of public
works in which the convicts sentenced with the forced labour shall be
employed, are prepared by municipalities. The territorial structural unit of
the State Probation Service in its turn informs on a regular basis the
municipality on the course of execution of these works. Responsibilities of
the State Probation Service as a penalty execution institution include:
to control when the convict comes to register for serving the
sentence;
to register the convict who has applied for serving the sentence;
to explain provisions and order of serving the sentence to the
convict;
to issue the convict a work order to an employer or for performance
of a particular work;
to sign an agreement with an employer on involving the convict in
the forced labour;
to control how the convict performs the work and receive regular
daily information about it from the respective employer;
to record the hours worked for each previous day;
if the convict evades serving the sentence or on objective grounds is
not able to continue serving the sentence, to prepare and submit to
the District (City) Court an application of the necessity of replacing
the sentence imposed on the convict, namely forced labour with
another type of penalty.
after execution of the judgement to inform about it the respective
court which has made the judgement.

The convict is obliged to show up in the forced labour execution institution
within its set period of time. While serving the sentence persons involved
in the forced labour shall observe the internal rules of order, labour
discipline, labour safety and protection regulations, perform in good faith
the task assigned, fulfil the employers instructions, and serve every day
the set number of work hours. While serving the sentence the convict
must not turn up at the forced labour execution institution and place of
the forced labour execution under the influence of alcohol, drug or

9
Saeima of the Republic of Latvia Latvian Penalty Execution Code, Section 133 - 138.
Amended law of 19.06.2007.
16
psychotropic substances. The State Probation Service covers the convicts
transport costs related to arrival at the forced labour execution institution
and execution of the forced labour.

If the convict is not able to execute the forced labour for illness or other
important reason, the person shall inform about it the forced labour
execution institution that, approving the reasons of the convicts absence
as plausible, may suspend the penalty execution for a period of no more
than one week or for a period of sickness, entering a respective record in
the personal file. The convicts vacation at the regular employment or a
study leave may not be a basis for suspension of the sentence execution.
The convict may not leave the country during the period of serving the
sentence without a written permission of the forced labour execution
institution.

The convict may not be employed in the forced labour more than two
hours on work days and upon his or her consent no more than four hours
outside the regular employment or studies and no more than eight hours
at weekends and on holidays. The term of serving the forced labour
counts in those hours the convict has worked in the work assigned by the
forced labour execution institution. Provided that the convict is not
working and studying he may be employed up to eight hours a day. The
convicts involved in the forced labour shall work at least twelve hours a
week but in case the forced labour execution institution is unable on a
regular basis to provide the convicts with work, they may be employed in
the forced labour for less than twelve hours a week.

The employer which has entered into an agreement with the forced labour
execution institution on employing convicted persons or which is
employing convicted persons for public benefit without an agreement,
shall assign the convicts a respective work which they can do in their free
time outside regular employment or studies, and:
shall ensure for the convicts work conditions pursuant to the labour
protection requirements, shall introduce them with the labour
protection regulations and rules of order;
shall provide the convicts with tools and instruments required for
performance of the work;
shall monitor how the convicts perform the assigned work.

The employer informs the forced labour execution institution about each
convicts number of hours worked or about evading serving the sentence.
If during serving the sentence the convict without an excuse fails to
observe the terms and order of serving the sentence which he or she has
been introduced with, the forced labour execution institution after
clarifying the reasons of such action shall warn the convict of the possible
consequences and replacement of the forced labour with a custodial arrest
in accordance with the Criminal Law. If the convict fails to take into
account the stated warning and repeats violation of the terms of serving
17
the sentence without an excuse, such action shall be considered as a
malicious evasion of serving the sentence, and the forced labour execution
institution submits the District (City) Court an application of replacing this
sentence with a custodial arrest in accordance with the Criminal Law. The
forced labour execution shall be terminated until the case is heard at the
court.

1.3. Problems of criminal penalty execution in Latvia and
abroad

V. Zahars, Assoc. Professor of the Police Academy and the former Head of
Latvian Prison Administration, emphasizes in his monograph on problems
of criminal penalty execution
10
that application of severe punishment has
no tactile impact on the crime rate while it increases the risk of crime
recidivism. The author admits that it is not possible to combat the crime
only by punitive criminal justice methods and there is a need for a new
ideology of a criminal policy that would be targeted at reduction of the
rate of punitive measures. It means scaling down the application of
imprisonment penalties and channelling the freed financial, material and
human resources for extension and improvement of the community-based
sentences
11
.

As seen from both D. Garlands
12
described experience of the US and UK
and also experience of other countries, new sanctions emerged ever more
actively in the comparatively simple penal system that existed in the
majority of countries still in the sixties of the twentieth century and which
was based on deprivation of liberty, penalty fee and conditional sentence
or suspension of penalty execution. The majority of European countries
and also countries of other global regions have introduced diverse
sanctions unrelated to imprisonment whose execution requires co-
operation with the offender, his or her consent as well as the societys
support and participation: probation, community service, compensation
and recovery of loss, victims reconciliation with the offender, withdrawal
of licences, training courses, learning and training programs targeted at
behaviour correction, treatment programs (in particular for drug-addicts
and sexual offenders), sanction that envisages attending special centres,
committal in the probation day centres, intensive monitoring, setting
curfew, house arrest, electronic monitoring, release under supervision,
restriction of liberty, combined sentences and other
13
.

10
Zahars V. The Convicted A Nation in the Nation. Problems of Criminal Penalty
Execution. Riga, Zvaigzne ABC, 2005, page 8.
11
12
Oxford University Press, 2001
13
18

Regardless of acceptance of alternative penalties, considering the overall
experience of European States it turns out that the prison population is
growing even in such traditionally progressive countries as Denmark and
the Netherlands. The observation in the older European States is that
there is a recognisably similar pattern of an increased imprisonment
everywhere and the majority of the penal system researchers explain it by
a media led hardening of the negative political attitudes and its public
opinion which in its turn facilitates penal severity in general against the
offenders
14
.

Table 1 shows that among other European States Latvia is still in the first
five ranks for the number of prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants (292). That
is a very high level even comparing to other Central and Eastern European
countries. Taking into account the recent relatively high number of
prisoners it is quite natural that exactly in this regions countries there is a
gradual reduction of the number of prisoners observed that is opposite to
the above mentioned general global trend. Considering the data about
Latvia we may say that in Latvia like in the Czech Republic
15
a decrease in
the rate of prison sentences has occurred owing to a certain extent to
introduction of community-based sentences and the active work of the
State Probation Service.

Table 1. Ranking of countries by number of prisoners per 100,000
inhabitants
Number of prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants
Rank
Europe* /
World** State 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2006
1. / 3. Russia 487 622 688 638 587 624
2. / 15. Belarus 327 535 620 554 437 426
3. / 25. Ukraine 248 395 478 406 410 345
4. / 29. Estonia 306 295 330 351 339 333
5. / 34. Latvia 314 374 410 373 353 292
8. / 49. Poland 153 163 148 183 210 239
9. / 50. Lithuania 250 351 383 273 234 235
12. / 62. Czech Republic 123 181 209 210 169 186
18. / 82. Hungary 143 124 132 152 163 156
23. / 104. Netherlands 49 66 85 95 123 128
28./ 125. Austria 87 77 86 85 105
32. / 136. Germany 71 81 96 98 98 93
35. / 140. Greece 61 56 68 79 82 90
39. / 146. France 84 89 86 78 91 85
42. / 151. Sweden 63 65 60 68 81 82

14
Walters J. Building alternatives to custody: lessons from the Czech Republic and other
European States. Referred to on 04.06.2007.
http://www.probationboards.co.uk/uploads/vista/186/pdf/Walters.pdf
15
Walters J. Building alternatives to custody: lessons from the Czech Republic and other
European States. Referred to on 04.06.2007.
http://www.probationboards.co.uk/uploads/vista/186/pdf/Walters.pdf
19
44. / 156. Denmark 66 66 64 59 70 77
46. / 158. Finland 65 59 50 59 66 75
49. / 168. Italy 81 87 85 95 96 67
50. / 169. Norway 66 65 59 57 55 58

Source: http://www.prisonstudies.org
Note: The rank is formed * among 56 European countries; ** among 216 countries of
the world.

Implementing a new approach to offender monitoring, the new Criminal
Law entering into force in April 1999 envisaged that the novelty
execution of the criminal sentence forced labour shall be entrusted to
municipalities. Regardless of innovations in the Criminal Law, the practical
commencement of penalty execution was delayed. Implementation of this
type of penalty in Latvia within the period of 1st April 1999 to October
2003 when the State Probation Service was established was led by Soros
Foundation Latvia that supported financially the development of the
forced labour execution mechanism in 10 municipalities of Latvia. At that
time the State did not assign funding for the establishment of the forced
labour supervision services in municipalities and only in June 2002
changes to legislation came into force that provided for application of real
sanctions in case of non-execution of the forced labour providing for that
the arrest shall be served in a partly closed prison
16
.

At the end of December 2003 the Law on the State Probation Service was
passed. Incorporating the changes to the law passed in November 2006 it
defines the State Probation Service (SPS) as an institution of direct
administration under supervision of the Minister of Justice that implements
the state policy in execution of the criminal sentence forced labour and
compulsory measure of a correctional nature community service as well
as in supervision of probation clients and social behaviour correction. In
2004 the State Probation Service took over the coordination of the forced
labour on the state level and in 2005 according to the transition model in
the forced labour execution started administrating of the assigned funding
and also partly execution of the forced labour in the territory of Latvia. At
the moment it may be considered that the transition period is over and
since January 2006 the SPS has fully taken over the execution of the
criminal sentence forced labour.

Forced labour may be applied only for criminal offences and less serious
offences - Paragraph 1 and 2 of Sections of the Criminal Law. Within the
period of 1999 to 2004 forced labour could be applied to 90 out of 500
criminal offences listed in the Criminal Law of Latvia. On 1 January 2005

16
Providus. Enforcement of the Criminal Sentence Forced Labour in the Territory of
Latvia. TM State Probation Service, 2004, page 3 - 4. Electronic version referred to on
18.09.2007.
http://www.probacija.lv/upload/gen/564/Piespiedu%20darba%20realizacija%20Latvija.d
oc
20
amendments of the Criminal Law came into force that enlarged the
application of forced labour for 114 criminal offences. In Latvia forced
labour is most often imposed for driving under the influence of alcohol,
drugs, psychotropic, toxic or other intoxicating substances, theft, fraud
and minor misappropriation and similar offences (see Appendix 1 and 2).

Up to now the former policy in establishing this alternative penalty has
been successful that is proved by a stable growth of the number of
convicts imposed the forced labour (see Table 2).

Table 2. Number of convicts sentenced to forced labour in 1999 to
2006
Since
01.04.1999*
2000* 2001* 2002* 2003* 2004** 2005** 2006**
183 596 1020 1216 1359 1545 1742 1952

Sources: * Providus. Enforcement of Criminal Sentence Forced Labour in the
Territory of Latvia. TM State Probation Service, 2004.
** Data of the Courts Statistics Division of the Court Work Organization Department of
the Court Administration.

Analysing the proportion of the forced labour among the types of
sentences imposed we come to a conclusion that in general it has not
made a significant impact upon imposing imprisonment. Over the last
three years the apparent drop-down of the number of convicts imposed an
imprisonment in absolute numbers (see Appendix 3) has been influenced
by the decrease of the general number of convicts. Proportionally
imprisonment is still keeping its position as the second most often
imposed type of penalty and only in 2005 it has been imposed to less than
24% or one fourth of all convicts but in 2006 it regains its former margin
of 27% (see Table 3, proportions of types of penalties out of the total
number of sentences imposed are calculated using data given in Appendix
3).

Table 3. Breakdown of types of sentences among the convicts in
Latvia (in percentage) in 1999 to 2006
2000* 2001* 2002* 2003* 2004** 2005** 2006**
% % % % % % %
deprivation
of liberty 26,1 25,9 28,3 26,9 25,5 23,4 27,0
conditionally
sentenced 56,6 54,9 53,3 53,8 53,5 53,6 45,4
penalty fee 10,0 8,1 5,8 6,6 6,4 6,4 7,3
forced
labour 4,7 8,1 9,7 9,9 11,7 15,4 19,5
custodial
arrest 0,02 0,04 0,1 0,04 0,03 0,1 0,1
released
persons 2,6 3,1 2,8 2,7 3,0 1,2 0,7
21
TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Sources: Zahars V. The Convicted A Nation in the Nation. Problems of Criminal
Penalty Execution. Riga, Zvaigzne ABC, 2005, page 15.

Table 3 shows that the growth of the forced labour rate by 2004 has
emerged due to penalty fees. Whereas, influenced by the recent
amendments to the Criminal Law and possibly more active operation of
the SPS the above mentioned decrease of the imprisonment has occurred
in 2005 as well as for the first time there is a trend of drop-down of
released persons that continues also in 2006. The most recent trend in
penal statistics is the significant (8%) fall of conditional imprisonment
cases observed in 2006 that is apparently replaced by an alternative
forced labour.

Thus, the conclusion drawn already in the previous study proves to be
true that the forced labour has not become a real alternative to
imprisonment but in most cases it has replaced a conditional
imprisonment or penalty fee
17
. It points at a certain contradiction to
initially set objective for the forced labour as an alternative sentence to
imprisonment to reduce the circle of those persons who, when imprisoned,
are forced to go through a destructive, degrading, criminalizing process
that in most cases ends up with the ostracism of the respective persons.

1.4. Community-based sentences and elimination of
social exclusion

Studies on the social exclusion risk groups
18
show that people released
from imprisonment face particular difficulties to integrate in the labour
market and society. That is influenced by inhabitants and employers
negative attitude towards those persons former criminal records, fear and
prejudices relating to prisons and imprisonment places, loss of social skills
while serving the sentence in the prison. Studies carried out in Latvia on
the possibilities to maintain the prisoners working skills and perform social
rehabilitation in imprisonment places or after release from them showed
that at the moment serving the sentence in imprisonment institutions of
Latvia facilitates the narrowing of the persons social network (family
support and friends are lost) and loss of working skills.
19
. People who have

17
Latvia. TM State Probation Service, 2004, page 5 .
18
Rungule R., Sniere S., et al. Reasons and Duration of Unemployment and Social
Exclusion. LM 2007, page 192, 273 - 283.
19
For instance, the authors of the study Accessibility of Prisoners and Released Persons
Education, Employment and Social Rehabilitation Services have given a detailed
summary of the previous studies. See website:
22
been imprisoned for more or less longer period have lost their social skills
required for organizing the daily life as well as their qualification and
working skills (if any possessed before) required to return to the former
employment or establish new employment relationship. If a person gets
imprisoned the employer is not waiting until his return from the prison but
replaces him or her with another employee. The released persons after a
return from imprisonment usually face problems of finding a job because
the former employers usually don't need them, working skills are partly
lost and it is rather difficult to find a new job. According to the data of
previous studies, the former prisoners more than other groups of
inhabitants use informal channels in organizing their life at liberty, are less
informed about the states and municipalities offered possibilities and are
more passive than other groups of inhabitants in using the active
employment measures
20
.

From this point of view the alternative type of sentence to imprisonment
discussed in the study - forced labour that in Latvia at the moment is fully
implemented by the State Probation Service is targeted at inclusion, not
isolation of offenders from the society. Establishment of the forced labour
as an alternative to imprisonment is one of the possibilities for the convict
to maintain the existing employment or in case the person is not
employed at the moment of sentencing, to retain and develop the working
skills.

Fulfilment of this objective is possible only if the societys attitude is such
that understands the problem and supports the return of the convict into
the society. It should be noted that the convicts own capability to confess
his or her offence and be aware of the consequences of the offence,
thereby also a motivation to correct one's behaviour and return into the
society also plays a very big role in developing a positive attitude. The
approach of "restoration of justice" that the SPS is developing and
implementing in practice according to the Section 6 of the Law on the
State Probation Service plays a significant role in this work with the
offender and victim.

The principle of restoration of justice in the criminal procedure is being
implemented through the settlement where the victim and offender
participate together in eliminating consequences of a criminal offence
agreeing upon a fair solution. The victim is given in the settlement
process a chance to express his or her own point of view of the incident,
to receive apologies and a compensation of loss as well as get a moral
satisfaction. The settlement gives an opportunity for the victim to actively
participate in the criminal proceeding that was impossible in Latvia

http://sf.lm.gov.lv/CMS/modules/EReditor/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/eq
ual/dokumenti/petijums_ieslodziitie.doc
20
Latvian Joint Memoranda on Social Inclusion. Referred to on 14.06.2006.
http://www.lm.gov.lv/doc_upl/LMMemorandsLV_230104.doc
23
hitherto and was considered a substantial pitfall of the judicial system. As
for the part of the offender, the settlement makes to think over
consequences of one's behaviour and assume a responsibility for the harm
done to the victim. The settlement helps the victim to maintain neutral
relationship with the offender that in general facilitates the safety of the
society
21
. Such practice of hearing victims and taking into account their
recommendations in sentencing or releasing from punishment would mean
rooting of the new penal philosophy in Latvia.

Yet, in order the alternative sentences including the forced labour to be
efficient, there is a need for support from all interested parties that means
that acceptance of new beliefs shall be general enough, from legal
experts, judges and other field professionals to non-governmental
organizations and municipal population. An experience of other countries
shows that ideals and values important for intelligentsia, rather narrow
elite and specialists of a particular field may only be incorporated in the
legislation, yet their viability or sustainability depends on the wider public
support for the respective range of ideas or philosophy. Considering the
forced labour that is a community-based sentence it is apparent that it is
one of parameters revealing the public support for the new ideals of the
criminal policy: starting from the legislators or Sections of the Criminal
Law providing for the forced labour as sentencing; the prosecutors and
judges readiness to apply the forced labour; the infrastructure of
Probation Services and local forced labour execution institutions; the
existing and potential employers or forced labour places and types
offered; up to the convicts themselves and their attitude towards the
forced labour as a punishment.

21
The State Probation Service. Referred to on 14.06.2006.
http://www.probacija.lv/lat/gen/5/675
24
II THE STUDY OUTLINE AND DATA COLLECTION
METHODS

The theoretical review allows stating that the support of the society and
field professionals, the last being the state institutions involved in
sentencing and practical execution, namely, judges, employers and the
State Probation Service staff, is important for the support of the forced
labour as an idea of an alternative punishment. The opinion of these
target groups was found out in detail within the given study. Data
collection in each target group was performed according to the objectives
and tasks of the study. In general the following activities were carried out
within the study:
Deep interviews with judges;
In-depth interviews with employers;
In-depth interviews with the State Probation Service employees;
Public opinion poll.

A similar study will be carried out also on the role of a compulsory
measure of a correctional nature "community service" in eliminating the
social exclusion. In cases the judge who was interviewed about the
attitude towards the community service had also sentenced the forced
labour but in cases the employer had worked with both of these target
groups the questions on the forced labour were asked also within the
scope of the study on the community service (and vice versa). Whereas,
within this study the State Probation Service employees were also asked
about difficulties in practical execution of community service.

2.1. Deep interviews with judges

The aim of deep interviews with judges on sentencing offenders to the
forced labour was to obtain a deeper view on the efficiency of the forced
labour, to define an attitude towards the penal execution institutions (the
State Probation Services and employers') capacity to ensure its
execution. According to the objective the following tasks were set:
To find out rational and emotional factors on the basis of which the
decision is made on application or non-application of the forced
labour;
To evaluate the restrictions set in the existing regulatory acts on
application the forced labour sentence;
To evaluate the judges perception of their role in eliminating the
social exclusion risk for persons having committed less severe
offences;
To evaluate the judges' previous experience in co-operation with
penal execution institutions and their capacity ensuring the
execution of the sentence.
25

Within the study 20 deep interviews with judges were performed. Judges
were interviewed both in Riga and in all regions of Latvia and the
breakdown by regions was determined by both the number of the convicts
and the frequency of sentencing to forced labour in municipalities of a
different size. As the study was carried out along with the study on the
community work, nine judges in the regions of Latvia who had sentenced
the compulsory measure of a correctional nature community work had
also sentenced the forced labour and expressed their opinion about it. This
additionally obtained material has been also analysed within the study.

The italized text in the study report gives quotations from interviews with
judges, employers and the State Probation Service employees. In order to
separate each groups opinion, the target group is given in the brackets
after the quotation, for instance, a judge, an employer or a SPS
employee.

2.2. In-depth interviews with employers

The aim of in-depth interviews with employers was to obtain a deeper
view on the efficiency of the forced labour as a punishment and the
employers' motivation to participate in employment activities as well as to
determine the attitude towards the penal execution institution (the State
Probation Service). The following tasks were set for the activity:
To find out rational, social and emotional factors on the basis of
which the decision is made on participation in organizing the forced
labour for offenders;
To evaluate the employers experience employing offenders both in
terms of risk, loss and benefit;
To accumulate information about examples of a positive practice;
To evaluate the employers perception of their role in eliminating the
social exclusion risk for persons having committed offences;
To evaluate the previous experience in co-operation with penal
execution institutions.

20 in-depth interviews with employers were performed within the study.
As quite often the employers employed both the forced labour and
community service performers, 7 interviews were acquired within the
community service study where the employers described the problems of
both target groups. Interviews were performed both in Riga and in the
regions of Latvia.

2.3. In-depth interviews with the State Probation Service
employees

26
The aim of in-depth interviews with the State Probation Service employees
was to obtain a deeper view on the efficiency of the forced labour as a
punishment, co-operational difficulties with the judges, employers and
convicted offenders. As the opinion poll of the State Probation Service
employees was not included in the agenda of the study on the community
service, the SPS employees were interviewed both about the forced labour
and community service. The SPSs opinion on community service is given
in the report of the study The Role of Community Service in Eliminating
the Social Exclusion. The overall tasks of the activity were as follows:
To evaluate the disincentives and coefficients of the interest of the
target groups involved to sentence and help to execute the forced
labour of community service;
To evaluate the experiences of co-operation with other involved
target groups both in terms of risk, loss and benefit;
To evaluate the impact of the forced labour as a punishment on
offenders employment and social rehabilitation, and efficiency of
community service as a compulsory measure of a correctional
nature;
To evaluate the penal executors perception of their role in
eliminating the social exclusion risk for persons having committed
offences.

15 interviews with the State Probation Service employees who are
organizing the forced labour execution in Riga or other regions of Latvia
were performed within the study. It ensured that the study represented
both the opinion of such employees having huge work load that is
determined by the number of probation clients per one SPS employee and
of such employees with a smaller number of clients. The difference in
number of probation clients in the regions of Latvia depends on objective
circumstances the number of convicts sentenced to forced labour in a
particular territory.

2.4. Public opinion poll

The aim of the public opinion poll was to measure the public opinions on
the efficiency of the forced labour comparing to other types of criminal
sentences. The following tasks were set for achieving the objective:
To measure the level of awareness of the forced labour;
To find out the prevailing public opinions on the social benefit and
loss of application of the forced labour;
To find out the main perceptions on the impact of different types of
criminal sentences on the offenders possibility to correct his
behaviour and integrate in the society.

The public opinion poll was performed within the period from 14 May to 19
June 2007 covering all inhabitants of Latvia of age 15 to 74. 1000
27
respondents were polled within the study performing direct interviews at
places of residence. A selection of respondents was done according to
principles of a multi-step stratified sampling. In order to acquire 1000
valid interviews 2067 contacts with potential respondents were made. The
poll was performed in co-operation with SIA Socioloisko ptjumu
institts.
28
III THE STUDY RESULTS

A report of the study results consists of four sections. First, the public
attitude towards the criminal sentence "forced labour" comparing to other
types of punishment and field professionals' (judges' and the State
Probation Service employees') attitude towards the forced labour was
explored. Second, the process of imposing a criminal sentence forced
labour" will be considered. Third, a vital section covers characteristics of
problems of practical sentence execution both from the point of view of
employers and SPS employees. Finally, efficiency of the forced labour as a
criminal sentence is analysed and recommendations of increasing it are
proposed.

3.1. The societys and field professionals' attitude
towards the forced labour

For community-based sentences, such being also the criminal sentence
"forced labour", to be applied as widely as the effectual law allows and for
the punishment to be efficient, both the society's and field professionals'
support is required therefore one of the tasks of the study was to find out
the society's, judges' and the State Probation Service employees' attitude
towards the forced labour.

3.1.1. Recognition and image of the forced labour in the society

Latvian people were asked questions in the public opinion poll, first, what
they consider the most appropriate type of punishment in such cases
when according to the Criminal Law it is possible to apply also the forced
labour, and, second, what the most appropriate punishment would be that
could best refrain an adult from further violations or criminal offences. The
respondents were warned at the beginning of the poll that the subject of
the study is sentences that would be appropriate for criminal offences that
do not cause serious danger to the society. Responses of Latvian
inhabitants to both above mentioned questions are given in Figure 1.

Column 1 in Figure 1 reveals the opinion of Latvian inhabitants of age 15
to 74 on the most appropriate sentence for such criminal offences as
theft, fraud, hooliganism, driving under intoxication of alcohol or other
substances (without causing a car accident) and other similar violations
(hereinafter in the text - for less serious criminal offences). Column 2
shows the opinion of inhabitants on the type of punishment they consider
could best refrain an adult from committing further violations and criminal
offences. In both questions inhabitants were asked to choose one type of
29
punishment from all possible (provided for in the Criminal Law) types of
punishment in Latvia.

In Figure 1 several conditional sentences are mentioned. Conditional
sentencing means that that the imposed sentence is not actually executed
on condition that the convict in the probation period set by the court will
not commit new criminal offences, will not violate the public order and will
fulfil the obligations set by the court otherwise the sentence is executed in
reality. It means that conditional imprisonment means that if a person
commits a new offence in the period set by the court he is imposed a real
imprisonment.

Figure 1. Pertinence of different criminal sentences for punishing
less serious criminal offences
37
18
18
6
4
2
3
17
20
14
3
3
12
31
2
11
Real correction work or community work
without remuneration
Real penalty fee
Real imprisonment
Conditional imprisonment
Conditional correction work
Conditional penalty fee
Other
No answer, hard to say
%
The most appropriate sentence IN GENERAL
The most appropriate sentence for ADULTS

Source: Public opinion poll, Latvian inhabitants of age 15 to 74 (n=1000 respondents).
Definition of questions in the questionnaire:
The most appropriate sentence IN GENERAL What do you consider the most
appropriate type of punishment for committing such criminal offences as theft, fraud,
hooliganism, driving under influence of alcohol or other substances (without causing a
car accident) and other similar violations?
The most appropriate sentence for ADULTS In general, what type of punishment do
you think would refrain an ADULT from committing further violations or criminal
offences?

Considering the opinion of Latvian inhabitants it is apparent that in
general the most appropriate punishment for committing less serious
30
criminal offences is a real correction work or community work without
remuneration (37%) that by definition corresponds to the forced labour.
The next two most often mentioned criminal sentences are a real penalty
fee and real imprisonment (18%). In general, respondents more often
mention real sentences as the most appropriate types of punishment for
committing less serious criminal offences and in considerably few cases
conditional sentences.

Considering in more detail two types of punishment - imprisonment and
real correction work for public benefit without remuneration it is seen that
the forced labour for committing less serious criminal offences is most
often supported by inhabitants living in Riga, with the higher education
and higher level of income per family member. Imprisonment as the most
appropriate punishment for committing less serious criminal offences is
most often mentioned by respondents with lower income and living
outside Riga.

The main positive benefit stated by the respondents who acknowledged
imprisonment as the most appropriate type of punishment for less serious
criminal offenders is an isolation of an offender (refinement of the
society). The main negative consequences the respondents saw in case of
imprisonment are loss in the state budget. An interesting observation is
that this part of respondents that considered imprisonment as appropriate
for less serious criminal offences, rarely mentioned that the possible
negative consequences of imprisonment is a possibility to learn
committing criminal offences.

The main benefit of the forced labour mentioned by inhabitants who
acknowledged this type of punishment as the most appropriate for less
serious criminal offenders is the public benefit (maintaining order of
environment, etc.) and the condition that the punishment is specific and
perceptible. The majority of the forced labour supporters could not state
the negative consequences.

Opinions of Latvian inhabitants on the most appropriate type of
punishment for adults differ (see Figure 1) from the view of the most
appropriate type of punishment in general for less serious criminal
offences. Though real correction work for public benefit without
remuneration (forced labour) is still mentioned most often (31%). The
main reasons why respondents consider a real correction work as
appropriate for punishing adults are: (1) a possibility to think over the
offence and fear of punishment; (2) work and discipline; (3) a possibility
to correct ones behaviour, and (4) performing of work for the benefit of
the entire society.

A real imprisonment is the second most often mentioned punishment
(20%) that is appropriate for adults to prevent them from further
offences, it is followed by a penalty fee (17%) and conditional
31
imprisonment (14%). A real imprisonment as the most appropriate type of
punishment for punishing adults is mainly grounded on that it (1) gives an
opportunity to think over the offence, creates a sense of shame and fear
of punishment; (2) facilitates the responsibility for the offence; (3)
refines the society.

Perceptions of Latvian inhabitants on what the main aims are when
punishing an adult for committing a less serious crime or violation are
given in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The main motives of the punishment for less serious
criminal offences
29
21
10
9
8
7
6
7
3
Punishing for the offence
Preventing a repeated violation
To make understand that social life norms
shall be observed
Prevent larger crime
Reeducate, correct
To make understand that general human
norms shall not be ignored
Protect society
To be a warning for others
No answer, hard to say
%

Definition of a question in the questionnaire: What do you consider to be the main aim of
the punishment penalizing an ADULT for less serious crimes or violations?

Figure 2 shows that Latvian inhabitants see the main aim of the
punishment for a less serious criminal offence in punishing for the offence
(29%) and preventing a repeated violation (21%). Most often punishing
as the main aim of the punishment is mentioned by respondents who have
considered a real penalty fee as the most appropriate punishment for
adults for committing less serious criminal offences. Prevention of a
repeated violation as the main aim of the punishment is most often
mentioned by the respondents who have considered a conditional
imprisonment and conditional penalty fee as the most appropriate
punishment for adults. To make understand that social life norms shall be
observed this reason is most often mentioned by those respondents
who consider a real penalty fee and real correction work as the most
appropriate punishment for penalizing adults. The aims of the punishment
to protect the society and prevent more serious criminal offences are
32
most often stated by the respondents who have mentioned imprisonment
as the most appropriate punishment.

Figure 3 reveals the attitude of Latvian inhabitants towards people who
have committed criminal offences and opinion on the impact of different
types of punishment on the possibility of the convicts to correct their
behaviour and integrate in the society.

Figure 3. Perceptions of the impact of punishments on offenders
33
-38
-17
-38
-38
-4
-46
-36
-21
-32
-16
-2
-6
-2
-9
-8
-33
-23
-1
-18
-18
-7
-3
56
18
44
55
35
56
24
29
26
25
34
47
34
38
29
6
10
39
11
12
25
13
43
-13
-18
-41
-15
-38
-21
33
24
15
21
7
Persons ability to correct ones behaviour if
he or she has committed a crime once
(normal value= 3,1;n=879)
Persons ability to correct ones behaviour if
he or she has committed a crime several
times (normal value=1,9;n=915)
In prison a person loses skills required for
daily life and work (normal value=3,0;n=924)
One must be very cautious contacting with
the former prisoner (normal
value=3,0;n=911)
A person having served a sentence in a
prison will never ever be able to become a
full-fledged society member again (normal
value=2,6;n=850)
If former prisoners are supported in
integration into the society there is a bigger
chance they will refrain from committing new
crimes (normal value=2,9;n=824)
The society and surrounding people shall
assume joint responsibility for other persons
committed crimes (normal value=2,0;n=892)
The family and friends shall assume joint
responsibility for their close relatives and
friends committed crimes (normal
value=2,3;n=888)
State must promote prisoners employment in
imprisonment place (normal
value=3,6;n=952)
Imprisonment helps a person to correct the
behaviour and refrain from future violations
and commitment of criminal offences (normal
value=2,3,n=810)
Penalty fee helps a person to correct the
behaviour and refrain from future violations
and commitment of criminal offences (normal
value=2,4;n=856)
Work for public benefit without remuneration
helps a person to correct the behaviour and
refrain from future violations and commitment
of criminal offences (normal value=2,9; n =
843)
Conditional imprisonment helps a person to
correct the behaviour and refrain from future
violations and commitment of criminal
offences (normal value=2,4;n=855)
To serve forced labour or community service
person don't lose skills required for daily life
and work (normal value=3,2;n=849)
%
Rather disagree Absolutely disagree Rather agree Absolutely agree
Normal value: describe as average indicator in s cale f rom 1 (absolutely disagree) till 4 (Absolutely agree).
The more closer average indicator to 4, the more respondent agree to given statement .
The more closer average indicator to 1, the less res pondent agree to given statement.

34
An option of answer hard to say is not revealed in the Figure.
Definition of a question in the questionnaire: Please assess to what extent you agree or
disagree to each of my statement (a list of statements given).

All respondents questioned were asked to assess 14 statements related to
the attitude towards the former prisoners, evaluation of consequences of
different types of punishment and joint responsibility of other society
members in committing criminal offences. The respondent passed an
opinion for each mentioned statement agreed or disagreed. The
percentage breakdown of opinions obtained for each statement and the
average evaluation of assessment are given in Figure 3.

First, attention is to be paid for the first two statements given in Figure 3.
They reflect the persons ability to correct ones behaviour if he or she has
committed a crime (1) once and (2) several times. It is apparent that the
opinion of Latvian inhabitants on whether the person who has committed
a crime once is able to correct ones behaviour is completely opposite to
the opinion on whether the person can do it if he or she has committed
several crimes. 85% of respondents have rather or fully agreed to that the
person who has committed a crime once is able to correct his behaviour
but only 24% of respondents agreed to that the person having committed
several crimes could change the behaviour. There is a large number of
those respondents who completely disagree that the person having
committed several crimes could be able to change the behaviour - 38%.
Respondents living in Riga and above the age of 45 more often completely
disagree to the statement a person who has committed a crime several
times is able to correct his behaviour".

Comparing the above mentioned data with the results of the study Public
Attitude towards the State Probation Service and Former Prisoners
performed by SKDS in 2006 it is apparent that the number of respondents
being sceptical about people who have violated the law once or several
times has increased. In 2006 the rate of respondents partly or completely
disagreeing to that the person having committed a crime once is able to
correct behaviour comprised 8%, in 2007 - 15% but 71% of respondents
in 2006 and 76% in 2007 partly or completely disagreed to that the
person who has committed a crime several times could change
22
.

The poll included three statements depicting situations that specialists call
a social exclusion risk. They are: (1) in prison a person loses skills
required for daily life and work; (2) one must be very cautious contacting
with the former prisoner; (3) a person having served a sentence in a
prison will never ever be able to become a full-fledged society member
again. In addition another two statements are included that evaluate
inhabitants attitude towards the need to employ prisoners (the state

22
SKDS. Public Attitude towards the State Probation Service and Former Prisoners. Public
opinion poll of Latvian inhabitants. February 2006, page 39.
35
shall facilitate employing of prisoners in imprisonment places) and the
impact of the forced labour as a punishment on the persons social
exclusion risk (serving a sentence of forced labour or community service
a person does not lose the skills required for daily life and work).

A large part of Latvian inhabitants agree to the statement that in prison a
person loses skills required for daily life and work (77% completely or
rather agree to this statement) and that one must be very cautious
contacting with the former prisoner (79% completely or rather agree to
this statement).

There is no conformity of opinions among respondents about whether the
person who have served a sentence in prison will be able to become a full-
fledged society member again. 50% of respondents agree and the same
number disagree to the statement a person having served a sentence in
a prison will never ever be able to become a full-fledged society member
again in the opinion poll of 2007. Comparing to the results of the study
performed by SKDS in 2006 the number of those respondents has
decreased who disagree to this statement from 64% in 2006
23
to 50% in
2007. Latvian inhabitants agree to the statement that the state shall
facilitate employing prisoners in imprisonment places. The state
administration institutions should consider this option as it would help to
at least partly retain working skills of the convicts sentenced to
imprisonment.

The majority of Latvian inhabitants polled completely or partly agreed to
the statement that serving a sentence of forced labour or community
service a person does not lose the skills required for daily life and work
(see Figure 3).

Latvian inhabitants agree to the statement that if the former prisoner is
supported in integration into the society there is a bigger chance they will
refrain from committing new crimes. Similar results were acquired also in
the study performed by SKDS in 2006
24
. The inhabitants keep a rather
negative attitude towards both statements that (1) the society and
surrounding people shall assume joint responsibility for other persons
committed crimes, and that (2) the family and friends shall assume joint
responsibility for their close relatives and friends committed crimes.

The inhabitants were asked to evaluate in the form of statements the
efficiency of several punishments, namely, whether each of the stated
punishments helps a person to correct the behaviour and refrain from
future violations and commitment of criminal offences (see Figure 3). Four
main types of punishments imprisonment, penalty fee, work for public

23
24
The same, page 38.
36
benefit without remuneration (forced labour) and conditional sentence
were considered. In general Latvian inhabitants found the forced labour as
the most positive sentence agreeing that the work for public benefit
without remuneration helps a person to correct the behaviour and refrain
from future violations and commitment of criminal offences (82% of
respondents completely or rather agreed to the statement). Latvian
inhabitants consider that the next two rather equal effective criminal
sentences are a conditional sentence and penalty fee; in both cases there
is a fifty-fifty proportion of people agreeing and rejecting the efficiency of
the respective sentence. Whereas, the respondents have most rarely
agreed that imprisonment helps a person to correct the behaviour and
refrain from future violations and commitment of criminal offences (74%
of respondents completely or rather disagreed to the statement).

The above mentioned definitions of criminal sentences show that in part of
questions the term forced labour was replaced with its description of
meaning, namely work for public benefit without remuneration. It is
apparent that Latvian inhabitants assess that this punishment should
make a positive impact on a person having committed a less serious
criminal offence in a way that is desired by the society. It is important,
however, to find out whether the inhabitants are familiar with the term
that the field specialists use in their daily work to designate the given
criminal sentence, i.e. whether the term forced labour is well-known.
Figure 4 shows the self-evaluation of Latvian inhabitants whether they
recognize or have heard something about the criminal sentence forced
labour.
Figure 4. Recognition of the term forced labour
%
No, I know or
have heard
nothing about
the forced
labour
20%
Yes, I know
person whom
adjudge forced
labour
3%
Yes, I have a
clear idea of
what the forced
labour is
22%
Hard to say
6%
Yes, I have
heard
something
about the
forced labour
but I do not
know anything
more about it
49%

37
Definition of a question in the questionnaire: Do you know or have heard anything about
the criminal sentence forced labour?

Data given in Figure 4 show that Latvian inhabitants hold a superficial
view of the criminal sentence forced labour. Almost a half of
respondents (49%) have heard something about the forced labour but
they do not know anything more about it. Quite similar number of
inhabitants responded that they have a clear idea of what the forced
labour is (22%) and also completely opposite that they know or have
heard nothing about the forced labour (20%). Only 3% of respondents
have had a personal contact or know someone who had been sentenced to
the forced labour. Counting the number of inhabitants who are more or
less familiar with the forced labour and comparing the result with the
study performed by SKDS a year ago where Latvian inhabitants were
asked whether they had heard about the criminal sentence forced labour
by that time it may be concluded that the public awareness has improved.
In the beginning of 2006 when the public opinion poll of SKDS was
performed around 58% of Latvian inhabitants of age 15 to 74 had heard
something about the forced labour.
25
.

Reading aloud what criminal offences the criminal sentence forced
labour is imposed for, Latvian inhabitants were asked to assess to how
widely to their mind the forced labour should be applied. The nature of the
forced labour was explained in order for the inhabitants to really assess
the given criminal sentence without fear of the fact that in such way the
punishment for serious and harsh criminal offences could be lessened. The
respondents assessment on the frequency of application of the forced
labour was acquired in a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 corresponds to the
response as seldom as possible, but 5 as frequent as possible. In
general the respondents have assessed the need of sentencing adults to
the forced labour with 4 points in a 5-grade scale that shows that the
forced labour should be imposed frequently. The inhabitants assessment
comparing with the last years opinion poll has not changed
26
.

Comparing to the average assessment of the frequency of imposing the
forced labour given by all respondents, women consider that the forced
labour should be imposed as frequent as possible (4.1 points in a 5-grade
scale respectively) but more seldom respondents with the basic or
unfinished secondary education (3.7 points). Latvian inhabitants who have
a clear vision of the forced labour as a type of punishment actively take a
position that in the given situations the forced labour should be applied as
frequent as possible, i.e. 5 points in a 5-grade scale. So, the awareness of
the criminal sentence forced labour is a vital precondition in order to
develop a positive attitude.

25
26
The same, page 20.
38

3.1.2. Field professionals attitude towards different types of
criminal sentences

The study found out the attitude of different groups of professionals
towards the existing types of criminal sentences. The term professionals
here includes both the judges who have sentenced to the forced labour
and employers who ensure that the convict served the sentenced forced
labour, and the State Probation Service (SPS) employees organizing the
sentence execution.

The main trend that characterizes in general all three target groups is the
positive attitude towards the sentences served in the community. One of
the most fundamental advantages of the community-based sentences is
an opportunity to make the convict give a benefit to the society and save
the tax payers funds that are used for maintaining prisons.

Judges attitude towards different punishments is formed by both the legal
norms and their personal experience that helps to evaluate what type of
punishment might be more effective in each particular case. The judges
impose a sentence taking into account the severity of the offence, the
convicts personality and existence or non-existence of former criminal
record as well as possibilities provided for in the law in each respective
case of the criminal offence. So, the judges work is influenced by
objective (legal provisions) and subjective factors (judges own belief and
experience).

Although the judges activities are restricted by the law, the information
obtained from the study lets to understand the judges attitude towards
different types of punishment because it is one of the factors on which a
spread of applying different punishments depends. One of the most
important aspects influencing the judges attitude towards the punishment
is a belief of the fact to what extent the punishment reaches its goal.
Judges consider that the main goal of the punishment is to make the
person correct the behaviour (educational factor) and refrain from future
violations (preventive function), but at the same time to make the
imposed sentence be felt as a real punishment.

Studying the judges attitude they were asked to compare the existing
punishments and a summary of assessment of the judges attitude and
efficiency of the punishment is given in Figure 5. The column Attitude
shows the most important arguments influencing the assessment, +
(positive) or - (negative) sign shows the atmosphere of the prevailing
attitude, the name of the punishment referred to in the respective case is
given in the middle of the Figure. The direction of the arrow given in the
right column reveals the assessment of efficiency: an upward arrow
39
means that the criminal sentence in most cases is assessed positively;
arrows at both ends indicate that the assessment is ambiguous and
depends on subjective conditions, and a downward arrow implies a
prevailing persuasion that the particular punishment is inefficient.

Figure 5. The basic arguments forming the efficiency of criminal
sentences and judges attitude

Penalty fee is one widely applied type of punishments (within the limits of
the law). Looking from the perspective of achieving the goal of the
punishment the penalty fee is imposed in cases the court is convinced it
will be paid.

If a person holds a well-paid job that is proved by documentary
evidence in the file and if a person is able to pay a penalty fee
within a months time as set forth in the law, I may impose the
penalty fee. (Judge)

The State Probation Service employees have observed in their daily work
that for well-situated people and those sentenced for violations of
economic nature a penalty fee is more efficient. In case the penalty fee is
imposed the State gets a greater benefit than if the funds and SPS human
resources are spent to achieve an execution of other punishment such as
forced labour.

I think that such violations [economic] shall be applied only penalty
fee because that would make them take the money out of the
pocket, and there have already been several real cases. Then the
State would gain some income from it. (SPS employee)

The limiting factors of sentencing relate to the convicts and his familys
material situation because in case of imposing such sentence not only the
Effectiveness
Forced labour
Imprisonment
+
-
Conditional
sentence
-
Penalty fee
+
Attitude
Penalty which doesnt recive as
real penalty
Real perceive penalty
Become frequent proper
When there is no other
solutions last chance
Persons who can pay
Offer investment in state budget

Depend on convict economic
situation

Low because offender had sence
that he/ she get through safe

Demand from offender active
involment in execution of penalty

Low, because environment of
prison dont promote persons
correction

40
convict but also the family suffers (if the convict has one). It is
problematic to impose a penalty fee in those regions of Latvia with low
peoples paying capacity therefore other types of punishment are
preferred, such as forced labour.

In Latgale it is connected with the material situation of people
because they are not able to pay a penalty fee here. So they pay by
working at least. (Judge)

The majority of judges and Probation Service employees admit that a
conditional sentence is not efficient enough and does not achieve its goal
to refrain a person from new violations. An attitude towards the
conditional sentence is often light-minded among the convicts in particular
among young offenders.

The younger the person the more he considers that conditional
sentencing is not a punishment. (Judge)

The person shall feel it as a real punishment because in case of
sentencing conditionally he raises the hat and leaves the courtroom.
(Judge)

It is, however, acknowledged that a possibility to impose a conditional
sentence together with different social behaviour correction programs or
additional sentences makes the conditional sentence more effective
because then the convict is required to participate.

Some of the judges admit that the conditional sentence is imposed to
refrain from future violations, namely as the last chance before
imprisonment.

If I see from the file that he has done a lot before, in order to avoid
from much bigger trouble I give a conditional sentence with an aim
that in case he does something wrong once again, he will
immediately got imprisoned. (Judge)

The criminal sentence forced labour is most often characterized as a
punishment that people really feel; it is a very good type of punishment
because it makes the person think over ones behaviour. Thus it may be
stated that the professionals consider that the forced labour is such
punishment that reaches its goals to a great extent. It should be noted
here that such professionals were interviewed in the study who know the
meaning and goal of the forced labour and it determines their attitude to
a certain extent. Mainly those judges were interviewed in the study who
had had any experience in sentencing to the forced labour, and the SPS
employees who organize the practical execution of a sentence.

41
I am considering very much this option to impose [forced labour] if
only it is possible along with all other conditions of the case because
it makes the person think over more ones behaviour. It is a good
measure. (Judge)

I like the forced labour as a type of punishment very much. I enter
the courtroom and see that the forced labour is very appropriate for
this person in order to change him. [..]. The forced labour is a very
nice, real punishment that a person serves. (Judge)

I like the idea itself, the point itself, the underlying though that by
these means forced labour and community service we help people
escape from being sent to those institutions they have got before
this forced labour. We help people, we give the second chance.
Whether the person uses this second chance or not, is his personal
matter. This is the basic principle as a result of which we also relieve
imprisonment places and save financial resources. (SPS employee)

Both these types of punishment [forced labour and community
service implied] are good because they let someone wake up who
has fallen asleep in such way that lets a person bethink and see
what is going on, where I have got to. (SPS employee)

Some judges, however, point at the contradiction that is even more
emphasized by employers, in particular those involved in organizing the
forced labour in regions of Latvia, namely, the contradiction is seen in the
situation that the work is used to punish a person but it is considered in
general that work may not be a punishment.

It seems to me unnatural to consider work as a punishment. But, if
the person is not able to put on the breaks in all matters then he
may at least work those hours. (Judge)

As if an opinion exists that work may not be a punishment but it is
one type of punishment that makes the person understand that he
has done wrong and therefore he must work, give something good
for it in order to lessen this badness or harm. (Judge)

The forced labour comparing to other types of punishment is sometimes
considered by judges also as severe. Seriousness is given to this
punishment by the fact that the convict shall perform the forced labour in
his free time and there is a possibility that the other people (in particular
in parishes) get to know about the punishment. In such situation the
conditional sentence or penalty fee is much easier to serve because the
convict is not required to put in extra efforts serving the sentence and
other people often do not even find out that he has been sentenced.

42
The forced labour is the second most severe punishment after
imprisonment. (Judge)

The forced labour is such punishment that is more or less real that
the person feels. Conditional imprisonment is insensible punishment.
The fact he is supposed to go to register a couple of times is not
felt. (Judge)

It should be noted that the judges attitude towards the forced labour is
also determined by his or her professional experience, namely, if the
judge is usually hearing criminal cases which involve victims death or
harsh bodily injuries or property loss, the attitude towards the criminal
offenders and efficiency of different sentences are much harsher and
imposed sentences more severe.

He [offender] will not take the forced labour as a punishment
anyway. There will be problems with him and we will have to put
him into prison anyway because he wont go to work. But if he has
done something long ago and again now then he should not be
imprisoned because he wont change for the better anyway. Let him
better work. (Judge)

We wont get far with that humanism. There are more and more
criminals in the streets. Soon we will not be able to walk along the
street ourselves. (Judge)

In general the judges positive attitude towards the forced labour on one
hand and establishment of the State Probation Service on the other hand
has facilitated the growth of frequency of imposing the forced labour.
Several judges emphasize that the successful operation of the SPS has
exactly given a confidence that the sentence will be really executed as a
result it is imposed ever more frequently.

We impose quite often as after the amendments it has also been
ever more incorporated in the Criminal Law. The SPS has started its
operation and we see that this sentence is really served now. When
previously it was entrusted to municipalities, the punishment did not
reach its goal they did not work as much as they were required,
there was a possibility to write off the hours and do something
together with friends. [..] Now, since the SPS is carrying out a
control, the sentence is really served by the person who has been
sentenced to it and it also reaches its goal. (Judge)

Considering the above mentioned opinions of professionals, the positive
aspects of the criminal sentence forced labour mentioned by all target
groups are as follows:
a possibility to receive and feel a real punishment;
43
a possibility for a person to change (not writing off and putting
behind the bars at once);
social links are not lost and the person is not taken out of the usual
environment;
work is done for the public benefit;
the person is forced to plan his time.

Forced labour is a sentence served in the community therefore it is
connected with the publicity to a certain extent there is a bigger
possibility that the surrounding people will get to know about the imposed
criminal sentence in particular in the small settlements. Therefore the
judges, State Probation Service employees and employers opinions of
the place and role of the sense of shame in punishing the offender and
refraining from future violations differ a lot. First of all, it is most often
observed that the forced labour causes a sense of shame to the convict. It
is concluded from employers experience because then probation clients
wish to perform the forced labour in as remote place as possible (in
particular in the small municipalities and parishes). The sense of shame is
most often felt by those probation clients who have been imposed the
forced labour for the first time and older people. In those cases a sense of
shame might be the factor that would refrain the person from committing
a repeated criminal offence.

Some employers consider that the convict shall feel ashamed as much as
possible for being sentenced. They consider that in order to intensify the
sense of shame it the names of the forced labour performers might be
publicized in the local press. In general, however, a sense of shame is a
personal moral category both for the probation client (whether he is
personally learning something from this situation) and employers and
State Probation Service employees (their personal understanding of that
to what extent the shame may influence the probation clients desire to
change.)

The forced labour is not for that to drive him some sense of shame,
some feelings. He receives his punishment, he works and at the
same time thinks over, [..] not only that he makes some
contribution with his work. (SPS employee)

This problem stands out even more clearly speaking about imposing the
forced labour to publicly well-known persons. The State Probation Service
employees consider that the punishment must not humiliate a person
therefore in the situation of Latvia punishing publicly well-known persons
with the forced labour is not practised. Unwillingness to injure a persons
pride is the main obstacle to imposing the forced labour to publicly well-
know people.

The head of the municipality is drinkdriving, he deserves the forced
labour but none of judges would sentence him to the forced labour.
44
I think it would not be appropriate. Here we have to look for an
alternative punishment because this person feels ashamed purely
psychologically. (SPS employee)

Paying by public work would be more powerful. It would be more
effective. In America stars go to sweep the streets but here it is still
a far way to go. (Employer)

The judges attitude towards putting in the prison is characterized by an
opinion that it is a very harsh punishment. In offences that are not very
severe as well as in case of the first violation (if only law permits it)
imprisonment is not the most appropriate type of punishment. The judges
and Probation Service employees consider that imprisonment brings no
positive results therefore taking into account the severity of the offence
and personality of the offender, they are seeking possibilities to serve the
sentence in other ways.

Imprisonment is the last. In case the person is so demoralized or
the law restricts we apply imprisonment. [..] Remand up to one
month gives benefits. After that the person gets used to the
environment and learns a great deal of nonsense. (Judge)

The judges consider that imprisonment is the utmost measure applied for
punishing a person. Usually it is applied in cases when other ways of
penalizing are exhausted and if it is obvious that the offender is unwilling
to change, and when the severity of the offence does not allow application
of another punishment.

3.1.3. Involvement of employers in the forced labour execution

As the criminal sentence forced labour is served by doing community
work the employers involved in the forced labour execution represent the
state and municipal sector and public benefit (non-governmental)
organizations. When the court has sentenced to the forced labour it is vital
to ensure its execution that is realized by the State Probation Service. It is
important in the course of the sentence execution to establish a good co-
operation between the State Probation Service and potential employers.
The initiative of attracting employers for organizing forced labour is
undertaken by the State Probation Service staff. Therefore motivation of
employers to participate in the forced labour execution process to a great
extent depends on the persuasion skills of the probation employees.

In general the State Probation Service employees characterize their co-
operation with employers as positive. The underpinning factor is the
similar understanding of the need of organizing the forced labour. By the
moment the State Probation Service was established the execution and
45
control of the forced labour was a function of municipalities therefore
several municipal institutions and enterprises outside Riga consider
participation in organizing the forced labour as self-evident. In such cases
the representatives of employers consider that participation in the forced
labour sentence execution is their duty and take an offer of the respective
SPS employees with an understanding.

I dont even remember the start how many years ago it was. At that
time it was so that someone called from the court stating that there
is such person [convict] and asked whether you are able to employ
your own man. Ok, lets make him cut bushes. (Employer)

Mainly those have been people from our parish. Strangers havent
been. We wouldnt send our people to another parish. There is
always some work to find. (Employer)

At the same time there are also such employers and municipal
representatives who are passive in participating in the forced labour
execution. Reasons of such attitude are the past experience that the
employers representatives had to assume supervision of the convict that
is now performed by the State Probation Service employees. Some
municipal employees remember that time with a certain dislike when their
task was to monitor the forced labour. The biggest co-operation difficulties
are faced with those employers who have developed a definite opinion on
the convicts and do not accept an idea that a part of criminal sentences
would be served in the community.

When there was no probation service, I was running after him with a
policeman, wrote notification and sent to him, threatened him. In
the beginning they [the convicts] did not believe and feared either
that the forced labour might be replaced with a custodial arrest in
case of escaping work. I had to deal with all documents on failing to
come [to execute the forced labour]. I as an organizer of this labour
had to write to the court to replace the forced labour with an
imprisonment. It was the greatest responsibility how will I put a
person in the prison. Now all this is the responsibility of the
Probation Service. (Employer)

Attitude in municipalities was sceptical because they were not
assigned resources for executing these [forced] labours. It is as if
embodied and remained as an old rudiment. It is quite hard to
eradicate this attitude in the municipality, it requires a contribution
of a big work, I could even say that employers require the same
contribution as [probation] clients. (SPS employee)

At the beginning employers were very cautious, it can be said that
they were even afraid to employ the convicts. It was fear of both
the convicts personalities and of badly organized worked that was
46
carried out by the municipality before. The employers were also
afraid to enter into agreement with us because they thought that
now all probation clients would go to them and they would not have
a job to offer. (SPS employee)

In fact, in the big cities those heads of municipalities are from time
to time changing but in certain parishes that chairperson of the
parish has been holding this position since the revival time. He is in
fact so stuck, so blunt, he has his own point of view, and he is an
all-mighty and does not accept any other opinion. [..] The problems
are much bigger with those having staid there so long. (SPS
employee)

The first satisfactory communication and co-operation experience with the
convicted offender is also a basis for further successful co-operation. If
this first co-operation is positive for the employer, he is also motivated
and interested in continuing future co-operation with the SPS. If cases the
first co-operation is not positive the SPS employees are supposed to put in
more effort to convince the employer to continue the co-operation. With
this condition in mind, the SPS employees involving a new and
inexperienced employer in the forced labour execution are trying in the
beginning to appoint such convicts who to the SPSs mind might fulfil the
job without delay and objections. If problems have been faced in co-
operation with employers they are not involved in organizing the forced
labour execution anymore. If the State Probation Service is not quite sure
that the employer holds a fair attitude towards the convict and organizing
the forced labour, the co-operation is also terminated then.

The employer shows abnormal behaviour, expressed different
negations, is rude and says so, youve come! He does not give
any job and says go home, I dont need anything! But we have
already broken an agreement with him. (SPS employee)

Figure 6 gives a summary of data of factors that motivate and hold back
the employer from making a decision on participating in organizing the
forced labour execution. The motivating factors relating to the employers
potential benefit gained from participating in organizing the forced labour
execution the State Probation Service employees are already now partly
using convincing the new employers. They shall be used in future but at
the same time efforts are to be made to reduce the risks and difficulties
that form the group of deterring factors to participate in the forced labour
execution. The deterring factors are evaluated in detail within this study.

Both the motivating and deterring factors influencing the employers
decision may be divided into three levels. First, those are emotional
factors the employers personal view of life and values, fear and
prejudices of the convicted in general, feelings that arise in daily work
organizing the forced labour execution. Second, those are rational factors
47
material benefit or loss from participating in organizing the forced labour
execution. And third, those are social factors, namely, sense of social
responsibility or quite opposite a desire to dissociate from relatively
different (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Factors influencing the employers decision on participating in
organizing the forced labour execution

Inviting the potential employers to participate in organizing the forced
labour execution process one of the main persuasion arguments used by
the SPS employees is a possibility to acquire a free labour force.

We appeal to them that they are being offered a free labour force,
that a real job is done. Some really acknowledge it and say thank
you. (SPS employee)

Many are acknowledging it because many are carrying out repair
works and just image how much an ordinary worker is paid it is a
big, big money! But now many of our convicts are builders, they go
and work, they like that job. Because there is no man who would
like to sweep streets or some territory. (SPS employee)
Free labour force
... free hands are always
useful...
Saving of financial
resources
... I dont have to hire paid
people for those works...
Time-saving
...it is possible to do more work
that usually lacks time for...
Social responsibility for
peers
...those are people of our
parish... ...another chance is to
be given to the person...
Personal confidence
... may be I will be the one who
will manage to change that
person a bita t least...
Desire to help people

Emotional
Prejudices towards the
convicted persons
... different jailbirds will come
here now...
Feeling of oneself being
sentenced
... shall be watched all the time...
Social
Rational
Additional work duties
...obligation to come on
Saturdays, Sundays...
Bureaucracy
... those hours shall be
registered...
Labour safety issues
Control of the convict will
be required
Social exclusion and desire
to disassociate
...no desire for thieves...
...an alcoholic will not be a
worker...
Factors motivating the employers
decision
48

The mentioned is a vital argument because the budget of municipalities
and public benefit organizations is limited that restricts the possibilities of
employing labour force for performing all required work. From this point of
view a possibility to employ people without remuneration is a chance to
perform all required work. Sometimes in the small municipalities the
forced labour performers are appointed to perform the same work as
permanent unemployed are doing within the program of subsidised work
places that is in its turn organized by the municipal representatives
together with the State Employment Agency.

Employers who have collaborated with the SPS consider that the work
performed by the forced labour performers is done satisfactory. Although
the employers have not made precise calculations on the saved financial
resources from participating in organizing the forced labour they,
however, admit that many works (especially outside Riga) are possible to
get done thanks to exactly probation clients (most often those are works
of maintaining the territory of the parish and firewood supply)

I am responsible for all economic works that are never possible to
get done. There will always be something to do and a lack of labour
force will always exist. Why not to use such opportunity if there is a
chance to perform some work for relatively lower costs? (Employer)

The parish also gets some benefit the environment is in a good
order, firewood supply ensured. I had calculated once what the gain
of the parish was. (Employer)

The employers attitude shows that motivating the potential employers to
participate in organizing the forced labour execution not only economic
arguments may be successfully used but it is also necessary to talk about
the role of the social responsibility. These arguments are helpful in work
with the non-governmental organizations that unite people whose
operation is targeted at helping others.

I am willing to give people such chance to put their wrong deeds
right in order to keep them off from being imprisoned. Everyone
should be given such a possibility because may be he has made a
slip just once. It is my personal belief that we must work with
people. (Employer)

We are all different, and why let him get imprisoned, in that
environment if he has an option to choose Why couldnt I give him
a chance and provide with that work, talk to him and try to make
him understand himself that he must work. Because the prison may
ruin a person, even if it is just a month. (Employer)

49
Another way of establishing co-operation with municipalities is an
argument that it is necessary to help their own people. This argument
works well in the smaller settlement because the potential employer often
knows the convict and what he can expect of him. It is also possible to
use such argument that it is municipalities are responsible for ensuring
work to persons serving the forced labour sentence because a part of
employers, especially outside Riga, agree that it is their task. That belief
that it is the municipalitys liability may have been kept since time when
the municipality was really responsible for execution of these works.

The municipality must certainly employ. If a person is sentenced to
the forced labour and he is not employed then the municipality will
be guilty for his imprisonment. (SPS employee)

That is simply set forth in the Law. (Employer)

If his [employers] position is sceptical and he says that it is not
necessary but still agrees, as that is set forth in the law, that the
person shall be employed, then those problems arise. His attitude is
sceptical well, ok, I will fulfil the obligations set by the law. (SPS
employee)

The data show that the employers need to be educated and informed not
only about the formal and organisational side of the forced labour but also
about the nature and goal of the punishment. Although the employers are
most often worried about organizing the forced labour they often do not
look into the nature of the punishment and significance of different, as if
formal requirements, and do not understand in what circumstances and
for what motives work may be considered a punishment. Perhaps
employers will not be very willing to listen to this information because
often they consider that they have all required information on the forced
labour. The employers would be more willing to receive evaluation and
feedback on their contribution.

Summarising the employers experience it is apparent that for
strengthening collaboration between employers and the SPS it is
important:
to find out and share experience with other employers;
to feel that they are not the only ones participating in organizing
the forced labour execution.
to receive a positive evaluation on their contribution.

We participated in such seminar where I heard a satisfactory
feedback from all other employers. Labour force is missing also in
the county, parish, they make them clean draining ditches and do
other things. So those giving feedback were satisfied. No one told
that he wouldnt take, but if there is one: give us! I was telling all
the time that we need more. (Employer)
50

Simply introduced with other organisations. Then we see that we are
not the only one such. (Employer)

We were even awarded a diploma, given a cup as a present and
invited to a pie. We were introduced with the results of not only Riga
but also how it is going on in regions. (Employer)
51
3.1.4. Solutions of hardship of attracting new employers

Regardless that the State Probation Service has steady contacts with
employers a larger number of employers would be required in the biggest
cities, for instance in Riga. For this reason it is necessary to know both the
above mentioned motivating and deterring factors and those considered in
the next sections discussing the practical execution of the forced labour
and also other factors that might involve new employers in the forced
labour sentence execution.

A successful tool for attracting the new employers would be the
experience (both the positive and negative) of the existing employers.
Presentation of both types of experience is necessary in order for the
potential employers to see what the practical co-operation with the forced
labour performers is on one hand, and understand that problems, if any
arise, shall be solved together with the State Probation Service employees
on the other hand.

Several State Probation Service employees admitted already now that in
co-operation with the employers they are making picture files of the
maintained or repaired objects. This is a great chance to show real results
of work.

Many tell that [probation clients are] a very good free labour force
and now it will be possible to do everything faster and save money.
(SPS employee)

Informing about the difficulties of co-operation with the forced labour
performers, the SPS employees shall stress their role in solving problems.
The employer shall be sure that in case any probation client would evade
the forced labour there will be possibilities to solve these problems.

That person [forced labour performer] would not certainly work so
as he would work if he were paid but he completes more or less
some work. An employer has also said yes, this person does more
than the one whom I pay. Certainly, sometimes we can see that the
employer is tired of us because of our calls, visits. If there are direct
work duties we are also making a control visit and check the
schedule; then it is sometimes too much but it all goes and it is ok
again. (SPS employee)

Potential employers that would be worth involving in organizing the forced
labour are the big (in terms of the number of employees) state institutions
or their subordinate services but very often their structure or
centralization of power in Riga hinders a possibility to involve the local
centres or branches in organizing the forced labour.
52

I would like to see more employers state institutions. They as if do
not let us in. That is because the big companies usually have those
head offices in Riga or another city. Consequently, if the
structural units say we take them, then calling the head office
the answer is no, we dont need. The local would take because
they are not afraid of their own parishs inhabitants but the
management fears of something might go wrong. (SPS employee)

Taking into account the above mentioned circumstance a recommendation
shall be considered that attraction of the big employers for the forced
labour execution country-wide should be carried out by the State
Probation Service agreeing on mutual co-operation on institutional level so
that the local departments were only left to agree on particular
organizational issues.

One group of potential employers is non-governmental organisations
(NGO) because to the State Probation Service employees mind more
active involvement of them in organizing the forced labour execution is
possible. Unlike different municipal institutions that may mainly provide
with low-qualified physical work, the NGO offer much diverse work to be
done by the forced labour performers. Along with the provision of work
the organization may tell and inform about its objectives and operation,
thus widening the vision of the convict.

It seems to me that non-governmental organizations are a big
resource because public utilities offer this pure mechanical,
technical, physical work, but these non-governmental organizations
could offer such more creative work. [..] Because they [an
employer, NGO] offered that they could come to make greeting
cards, make parcels to be sent to people. It seems to me that it
would be a positive, educating aspect that the person becomes
aware that he is doing someone good with his work. (SPS employee)

More active involvement of NGO might facilitate achievement of several
objectives:
to provide the convict with work that might be creative;
to perform work that brings benefit or satisfaction to other members
of the society (sometimes to social exclusion risk groups, disabled
people, etc.);
to carry out socially educating function about the NGO operation.

Co-operating with the non-governmental organizations, not only a
necessary and valuable work is done but also the probation client at the
same time becomes acquainted with other peoples life stories and may
pass this experience on.

53
The convict gets acquainted, helps and sees what difficulties and
obstacles a person in a wheelchair shall overcome. He will certainly
tell about it to his relatives, friends. They will tell that there are such
people and they are very active, work and enjoy life, go to cafe and
have a drink, and that life is the same as for other people. Therefore
it is raising public awareness and a positive public attitude towards
this disabled person. (Employer)
54
3.2. Possibilities and practice of application of the
criminal sentence forced labour

Data considered in the previous sections show that, in general, significant
obstacles, related to a negative public and professionals attitude, in
application of the forced labour have not been observed. It is, however,
necessary to find out what the practice of sentencing and penal execution.
That would help to understand whether the sentence is imposed exactly to
those groups for which it is most appropriate and what the role of
evaluation of the offenders personality in sentencing is. These
circumstances form the basis what kind of people the employers meet
with that in its turn forms an attitude also towards the forced labour.
3.2.1. Frequency of application of the forced labour

Assessing the activity and frequency of application of the forced labour the
interviewed judges characterise it as a quite frequently used type of
punishment that has gained a stable position among other possible types
of punishment. The majority of judges admit that it is widely used, getting
ever more popular and is applied on a regular basis as the first alternative
in all cases whenever provided for in the law. As mainly those judges were
included in the selection of interviews who had had any experience in
sentencing to the forced labour, then only a small part of the interviewed
judges around one tenth is such admitting that the forced labour is
applied rarely (up to 20% of all sentences imposed).

I would not say that often. If a person is working and earning
money I would never apply this forced labour and have never done
so. (Judge)

The same number (around 10%) of judges interviewed state that they
apply the forced labour to more than half of all cases.

I am always considering such option if the law provides for such
sanction because it is the courts competence to choose an
appropriate type of punishment. (Judge)

The other judges interviewed consider that the criminal sentence forced
labour is applied to around one third or fourth of all cases. In general it
sounds a little more optimistic than revealed in the court statistics where
it can be seen that in 2006 the forced labour as the basic punishment has
been imposed on only nearly 20% of all convicts. That could be explained
by peculiarities of a selection of the respondents because as already
mentioned mainly those judges were selected who were practising
sentencing to the forced labour.

55
The basic one is a conditional imprisonment. It prevails in any case.
The other ones divide into equal parts the penalty fee and forced
labour. (Judge)

3.2.2. Criteria of application of the forced labour

The main argument that motivates or keeps the judge from choosing the
forced labour as the most appropriate punishment is related to legal
regulations the offences defined in the Criminal Law for which such type
of punishment is provided for. Pretty often judges emphasize that in all
cases provided for in the law the forced labour is applied as comparatively
mild but at the same a really servable type of punishment.

In case no serious consequences arise after the offence, it is a very
good punishment. (Judge)

For those offences which the forced labour is provided for, it is a
very good alternative to imprisonment. (Judge)

It makes a person think over more his deeds. It is a good measure.
If imprisonment had any other additional aspects that would make
him think over his deed it would be different but he is simply
imprisoned and has no possibility to do anything more. (Judge)

That, however, is more or less real punishment that the person feels
because conditional imprisonment is insensible punishment. (Judge)

The forced labour is applied to criminal offences and in cases of less
severe crimes: In cases when the person is punished for the first time
and in general assessing all circumstances and personal record that the
judge is bound to according to the Criminal Law to assess in determining
the punishment it comes out that the forced labour is that the most
appropriate. (Judge)

The forced labour has been mainly applied to violations set forth in
Section 262 of the Criminal Law (repeated driving under influence of
alcohol) already since 1999. That is most often indicated by the judges
and this trend is reflected also in the generalized statistics
27
. It is very
often applied to drinkdriving and evasion from restriction of rights.
(Judge)

The next group of offences which the forced labour is imposed to is
offences related to thefts (Section 175 and 180), among them 2% of all
forced labour are applied according to Paragraph 3 of Section 175 (for a

27
see Appendix 2 Persons sentenced to the forced labour by the type of a criminal
offence in 1999 to 2006.
56
theft if it has been committed by entering a residential unit or other
premises, or if it has been committed from a storage facility, system
connecting storage facilities, or from a vehicle), apparently applying
Section 49 of the Criminal Law that provides for setting a milder
punishment as it is envisaged by the respective Section. The majority of
judges interviewed, however, consider that amendments would be
required here that would let the court upon considering the circumstances
of a case, to sentence more freely the forced labour also for thefts that
have been committed by entering a residential unit or other premises.

[Sentencing of the forced labour] could be also for that Paragraph 3
of Section 175 because it provides for a conditional punishment for
all. Generally, the more types of punishment the Section envisages,
the more real possibilities the judge has to apply each particular
person the most appropriate punishment. (Judge)

Now a person shall be imprisoned for stealing a hen. That would
certainly require that forced labour. (Judge)

Comparing to the study of 2004
28
the number of the forced labour cases
has substantially decreased that have been applied for arbitrary tree
cutting (Section 109), whereas the number of forced labour applied in
accordance with Section 170 (avoiding of maintenance) has increased:
Recently there were ever more cases on avoidance of providing means of
support to children. (Judge)

The fact that in general the forced labour is now being imposed more
frequently is connected to the changes occurred in this field:
amendments to the Criminal Law supplementing Sections according
to which the application of the forced labour is possible;
an active and observable operation of the SPS: Since the moment
the SPS is carrying out a supervision and control of the forced
labour execution, we have been applying it more often. (Judge)

Thereby, appraising the efficiency of this punishment the judges admit
that in general application of the forced labour has almost reached its
maximum within the limitations of the effectual law.

There are of course situations when the forced labour shall not be
applied even if you would like to because that is not provided by the
penal sanction of the Section of the Law which sets forth only the
imprisonment. There would have been more cases if it would be
applicable to other Sections, too. (Judge)

28
Latvia. TM State Probation Service, 2004, page 11.
57
The judges are being reprimanded exactly for that they sentence to
imprisonment with a conditional probation period. But that is the
only choice. If a judge is convinced that the person is unlikely to
change with a real imprisonment and whether that will be effective
for him, that it would rather make him worse, then it will certainly
be a conditional sentence. There have been situations when I had
thought that if the forced labour was applicable here, that would be
really fine. It is a milder and more effective punishment because he
must do that. With a conditional sentence he is living as before only
with a thought in mind that he may not make a slip, but otherwise
his life is not changing. But he must do the forced labour on
Saturdays, Sundays or in the evenings. (Judge)
58
3.2.3. The role of the defendants personality at the moment of
penalty application

Apart from the nature of the criminal offence and mentioned legal
restrictions the main obstacles in application of the forced labour are
related to assessment of the offenders personality and living conditions
(see summary of arguments in Figure 7). The judges arguments why they
do not apply the forced labour to a great extent repeat that they had
mentioned in the previous study
29
.
If the accused has no definite place of residence: It is not applied
to those without a permanent place of residence so that he could
not evade and the SPS cannot control and find him.
If the accused is disabled or the state of health is improper: It is
unsuitable to apply the forced labour to a person who has reached
the retirement age or due to disability is not able to serve the
sentence; Perhaps he is such alcoholic or drug addict that his
health even does not allow him to go and fulfil it.
If a person has a previous criminal record: If a person has been on
trial several times, the forced labour is unlikely to be applied
because that would be too mild for him.
If a person has not executed previously imposed forced labour: I
am absolutely sure that he will not do it anyway, he wont go and
work because he had already lied several times and evaded. He
wont do that work and after a year I will replace his sentence with a
custodial arrest.
If the accused is able to pay a penalty fee: If a person holds a well-
paid job that is proved by internal evidence in the file and if a
person is able to pay a penalty fee within a months time as set
forth in the law; Penalty fees are very drastic now and they
provide a very good extra cash flow to the State Treasury.
The offender has a job that hinders serving such sentence: what if
he possibly has a rolling schedule.
The accused holds a permanent job most probably due to the fact
that the majority of offenders have no definite, permanent job, a
part of judges consider that this punishment would not be
appropriate for working people. We dont need that he lost his job
just because he would serve the sentence.

There is no mention of obstacles related to organizing the forced labour
execution anymore that were outstanding three years ago, namely, that
the execution mechanism in the municipality was not working or there

29
Latvia. TM State Probation Service, 2004, page 11 -12.
59
were no possibilities to ensure work for convicts sentenced to the forced
labour as well as that it is problematic for the convicts to get to the work
place.

Figure 7. Aspects of the defendants personality to be assessed at
the moment of penalty application

3.2.4. The role of personality assessment reports of the SPS

If the legal circumstances allow application of the forced labour then
according to almost all interviewed judges the most important factor to be
assessed is the defendants personality, as well as his health, family and
work conditions. The majority of the judges interviewed point out that it is
important not only to punish or teach a lesson to the offender but also
change and improve his behaviour.

Personality is the basic aspect because the meaning of punishment
by nature is to correct that person. (Judge)

Employment
(+) If he is
unemployed,
lazybone.
(-) If he is a long-
distance driver who
comes home just for
one day.
Attitude towards the
offence, behaviour
(+) If in the court room
he shows with his attitude
a regrets of it.
.. What is his attitude
towards the victim or
casualty.
Age
(+) Application of the
forced labour to the minor
is very educating and good
because often they do not
understand the conditional
sentence, they think they
havent been punished.
(-) There was a retired
man around 70-80. How
could he be sentenced to
the forced labour if he is
unable to stand up from
the chair in the courtroom.
Past records
(+) if he has committed
that criminal offence for
the the first time.
State of health
(-) Such sentence is not
applied to a person having a
deliberate disease.
Family
(+) If a woman cares for
underaged children, I dont
sentence to imprisonment.
(-) May be he is the only
supporter and he is not even
able to break away to go to
the SPS.
Assessment of the
defendants
personality applying
the forced labour
Psychological
characteristics
...Whether the person is
not dangerous to the
society and is not
neccesary to isolate from
the society.
Previous criminal
record
(-) If a person has
previously served a real
imprisonment, such
person would not
deserve the forced
labour but a real
60
I enter the courtroom and see that the forced labour is very
appropriate for this person in order to change him. (Judge)

Often the defendants behaviour in the courtroom plays an important role
in personality assessment that increases the role of the judges subjective
perception in decision making. That could be one of reasons why the
majority of the interviewed judges highly value the assessment reports
prepared by the SPS as quite neutral and objective, detailed and grounded
source of information about the defendants personality.

The greatest thing seems that it is possible to ask the SPS to
provide an adjudgment and that they are trying to explore the
person how he has grown up, why he has come to that. It was not
possible before and information about persons was poor. It is a
wonderful opportunity to find out what the person himself thinks
and how he has come to such violation as criminal offence, what his
living situation is in general in order to understand what sentence
could be applied to him. That is exactly being found out in the
hearing but it is good if people have already tried to find out and
explore it before. (Judge)

Im supporting it in general because I like that there are such in the
file, they help and give much deeper insight. ... Lately there are
people who are neither working nor studying anywhere. We have no
source to get this characterizing information about them. But here
he himself, his personality and his acquaintanceship have been
explored. Then it is possible to have at least some idea about him,
his attitude and personality orientation. ...Some notion is certainly
got about him in the courtroom but we may not state that it is right
every time because someone doesnt know how to act in the
courtroom, another sings like a nightingale there. Although it is vice
versa in reality. (Judge)

Regardless to that at the moment requiring assessment reports is not
compulsory, a small part of judges, however, admits that they are already
now asking them from the State Probation Service almost in every case.
The reports are most often used in criminal cases, in particular relating to
the juvenile delinquents and in such cases those reports are already asked
by the prosecutors office.

In general the only obstacle in using the SPS assessment reports on a
regular basis is the time required for their preparation that may
substantially prolong proceedings. Many judges (in different regions) state
that regardless of the efficiency of such reports, they usually lack time to
require them by the time of hearing the case. A solution here might be a
procedure that the police or prosecutor asks for the report already during
the pretrial process in order for the SPS to manage to prepare and the
judges to receive them at hearing.
61

If the term of investigation of the case is short it is not worth asking
them because they will not be able to prepare them. (Judge)

The law might be amended providing for that the police has right to
require assessment reports from the SPS. It is foolish and absurd
that only prosecutor and court may require them. The solicitor or
attorney in criminal cases might also have right to ask them. It
would only be logical. (Judge)

Only one of all interviewed judges had mentioned a negative experience
related to a low-quality assessment report received around a year ago and
suggested that in future they should prepare then in a higher quality,
involving other specialists and participating in hearings:

It would also be advisable to provide the minor with a psychological
consultation and assess from that point of view because the SPS can
ensure that. To indicate in these reports also further educational
options what to do with him? Let them assess that punishment.
Let them assess that person. The person who will undertake a
further supervision of the forced labour execution could also come to
a hearing in order to see that persons behaviour in the courtroom
and also express his own point of view. Writing on a paper is
something different from seeing his behaviour in the courtroom.
May be he is very nice meeting the SPS employee but kicks the door
in the courtroom. (Judge)

3.2.5. The problematic groups of offenders and sentencing to the
forced labour

Based on their own and forced labour employers previous experience the
State Probation Service employees consider that the most problematic
group of offenders in terms of both communication and the forced labour
execution is people who are alcohol or drug addicts. Talking about
suitability of the forced labour as a punishment for people with addictions,
judges were of different mind and various opinions to a great extent
reflect their different human attitudes, values and way of thinking.

A great part of judges use as a basis rationally pragmatic considerations
and think that such problem should not arise because the persons state of
health and suitability to the forced labour is being assessed already during
the hearing. People of degraded personality due to alcohol or drugs and in
general with drug addition, if only known to the court, usually are not
sentenced to the forced labour. In that case the judges would be willing to
hear the opinion of the probation service employees on suitability or
impropriety of the forced labour to the respective person.
62

If there is a SPS report in the file that states that work with a
particular person will be encumbered, that he is unable to lift or do
something physically, I would take that into account and certainly
not apply as why should the court encumber the SPS with
unrealizable judgements? (Judge)

Admitting that looking from the point of organizing the forced labour
execution this might really be a problematic group, the judges, however,
point out difficulties of define a person as alcohol addict and impossibility
of compulsory treatment of addictions.

At the moment the legislation provides for that they may be obliged
the treatment if they agree to that. Under circumstances that
treatment is paid service and available programs are minimal, they
are hard to be realized. That would be efficient only in case the
person agreed to that, took a treatment course and we reheard a
case about applying the respective further punishment and
determination of the type of punishment. (Judge)

Therefore it was very often emphasized in the interviews that the existing
legislation and limited possibilities to undergo effective treatment of
addictions restricts the capacity of the court or State Probation Service to
affect, correct or change people with addictions in any way. In order to
solve this problem, changes to the law would be required that would
envisage a possibility to combine the forced labour like a suspended
sentence with certain duties. Judges admit that in case the law provided
for, they could sentence a smaller number of forced labour hours with a
condition that a person with addiction problems voluntarily undergoes
treatment or participates in the respective behaviour correction activities
(programs). Such mechanism, however, might work only in case a
preparatory work is done in a pretrial period, an assessment report is
elaborated and the SPS employees propose the offender to undergo a
respective course or program. Some judges indicate that in this case it
would be worth for Latvia to learn from the positive experience of other
countries.

There is very different attitude towards the ill persons as criminally
penal persons in our country and abroad. The more developed the
country gets it has more resources and programs to work with these
people. If a drug-addict has committed a criminal violation he is first
imposed an obligation to undergo treatment, fulfil his duties do
sporting exercises and take many other measures because the state
is able to ensure it. If the person fulfils all those duties and
undergoes treatment then the criminal penalty is not [imposed] in
fact because it is considered that he has committed that violation
due to illness. That is a completely different attitude towards those
63
sick people. In our country people with addictions are treated more
like hopeless cases instead of curable and to be rescued. (Judge)

It was observed in the study that a significant part almost a half of all
judges considers that too big disposition to alcohol may not be a reason
for lessening punishment but rather quite opposite the forced labour
might be a reason to brace oneself together or disroot him out of that
life. There is confidence among judges that work has a treating effect to
certain extent and that it has a positive impact on alcohol addicts. The
forced labour is taken as an opportunity to change the persons behaviour
and strong enough motivation for its execution is a possibility to replace
the punishment with a custodial arrest.

Dont alcoholics have arms and legs? I treat very positively the
forced labour as such because work made a human out of a
monkey. Addiction could not be a factor that should refrain from
applying this punishment. (Judge)

I thing that exactly forced labour is applicable for them because at
least something makes them work and refrains from using alcohol
the whole day. (Judge)

Less popular but still strong enough opinion of some judges was that the
court should not go deep in problems of the forced labour execution. The
law is one for all and if a person is capable of committing a crime he will
also be capable to serve his sentence to execute the forced labour.

That is his problem. If he drinks and doesnt work, let him drink.
There will be an application and it will be heard at court. It may be
replaced. He was already explained in the courtroom what the
forced labour was and if he would not perform, the consequences
would follow. Why can he steel and behave as hooligan then? That is
his problem, let him solve it himself. (Judge)

In certain cases the State Probation Service employees have faced a
situation that people without a permanent place of resident have been
sentenced to the forced labour. In general the judges are trying to take
into account the aspect of place of residence and all state that it is one of
the main criteria taken into consideration choosing the most appropriate
type of punishment. The court understands that applying forced labour to
persons without a permanent place of residence its execution and control
will be encumbered that means that the person has a possibility to stay
unpunished. In such cases a real imprisonment is or a conditional
sentence with an obligation to register or participate in some of the SPSs
programs is imposed.

If that is a person without a permanent place of residence I would
not apply it to such person because it is not quite clear which
64
territorial structural unit of the Probation Service should deal with
him. Such person is already hard to invite and get to the court.
Therefore no one might find and make him work the forced labour.
It would be useless. He would not do that and work should have
been replaced with a real imprisonment. (Judge)

Some judges, however, admit also application of the forced labour to
persons without a definite place of residence. Arguments here are both
that the court should not think about the sentence execution because
those are problems relating to the penal execution bodies and also a
principle of one court and one justice mentioned.

We, judges, shall not decide how technically possible it is. That is
decided by the executive bodies. (Judge)

To apply a real imprisonment just because he doesnt have a
definite place of residence!? It is not a solution either because in
case he doesnt have a permanent place of residence and he is
sentenced conditionally he is registered with the SPS anyway and he
is obliged to respective duties that are to be fulfilled. It is an
ambiguous issue. Without a definite place of residence it is hard to
execute both correctional work and conditional sentence but it is not
a reason for imposing a real imprisonment at once. (Judge)

Unlike Riga and other cities, in parishes the forced labour might be
realized also for people without a declared place of residence: In the big
cities he is really hard to be found but here our police knows where to find
them. (Judge)

In general the judges admit that a custodial arrest would be most
appropriate for persons without a definite place of residence but its
application at the moment is impossible due to non-adoption of the legal
regulation on a custodial arrest and inexistence of arrest prisons.

It is necessary to think about other type of punishment there. There
are no many options. No arrest, penalty fee slides back. I hoped for
an arrest so much but now it slides back. Then only imprisonment
for minimum 6 months or conditional sentencing is left explaining
how risky it is to commit further offences. (Judge)

The judges consider that another aspect of the same significance is the
defendants state of health. The Criminal Law sets forth that the forced
labour may be applied to only persons able to work. Therefore in all those
cases when the person has any health problems that the judge has been
informed about in a way of medical documents or statements attached to
the file, other types of punishment are applied (penalty fee or conditional
sentence). Sometimes quite opposite the forced labour may serve as a
milder type of punishment (it is better to work outdoors) to be imposed
65
to a person whose state of health the imprisonment would do more harm
to.

In most cases the judges admit that it is not reasonable to apply the
forced labour to a person with health problems, in some case, however, it
may happen if there is insufficient information at the courts disposal. A
solution of the problem might be an assessment in the pretrial process of
the need for the inspection of the defendants state of health in order to
state in a due time the possible infective diseases (for instance, TB) that
may hinder the execution of the forced labour. Only a small part of judges
consider that improving the State Probation Service capacity and finding
the performable forced labour accordingly, people with certain health
problems or disability might successfully serve such sentence, too.

What do we understand by the forced labour? I admit that there are
some works that may be fulfilled also by the person having some
physical problem. The disabled may also work that was a problem
up to now that was not a matter of public discussion. Every man is
able to do some work but it does not mean that it should be
physically hard work. ... Ideally if the penal application bodies knew
what those works are and whether it is possible to apply them. But I
dont think that is a penal application bodys problem. The other side
of the question is rather to be solved, namely what this work looks
like. Telling that this type of punishment does not refer to the
person just because he is ill is not right either. (Judge)

3.2.6. The defendants agreement to the forced labour

Experience of other countries is that the forced labour was introduced as
one of alternative types of punishment to imprisonment that is based on
serving the sentence in the community and the defendants own conscious
and active involvement and co-operation. In many European countries a
widespread practice is that judges applying the forced labour and
alternative types of punishment to imprisonment ask for the defendants
agreement in order to increase assuming of the responsibility of the
defendant oneself and conscientious sentence execution.

Like it was observed in the study carried out three years ago
30
in Latvia
the majority of judges interviewed still are not used to ask for the
defendants agreement to the forced labour execution because the law
does not provide for it and the judges themselves do not consider it
necessary. Discussing this matter quite emotional reaction of judges was
observed and there was a sense of perplexity in their responses on the

30
Latvia. TM State Probation Service, 2004.
66
necessity of such practice and anxiety of the possible mistrust or even
jeopardizing of the judges power or authority.

I dont ask anything. There may be an opinion but not an
agreement. Then we should also ask for the accused persons
agreement to serve or not to serve the imprisonment. It seems to
me that we must not ask for an agreement. (Judge)

Do I ask his agreement sentencing him to a prison? I dont! (Judge)

The court does not ask whether you agree or not because it is not a
trade, yet. (Judge)

Judges consider that the defendants agreement or disapproval could be
related to only some objective or subjective obstacles that would explain
why the person might be unable to serve the sentence. As stated before,
the court assesses the existence of objective obstacles during proceedings
but in case any subjective objections have been raised against the type of
punishment the convict may tell them in the debates giving reasons of
inability to execute the forced labour. There is a general view that in most
cases the accused should be satisfied because an alternative to the forced
labour would be imprisonment or penalty fee. The practice also shows that
most often the defendants are satisfied with this type of punishment:
None of defendants in my practice have appealed against their sentence
forced labour. It means then that they agree. (Judge)

Only in some cases the judges admit that realization of the persons
offence and agreement to serving a sentence assuming responsibility for
ones own decision would be almost an ideal solution that is unfortunately
impossible in reality.

If there was a possibility to develop a hearing on such level that it is
work with the defendant in order he understands his offence and
finally it comes down to his agreement, then it is again an ideal
option. But in any case, unfortunately it is impossible. (Judge)

The person has no money, no job, no other income... It is not a
problem to find a job today, if only one wants it. Why do you think
he will suddenly start to perform the forced labour with a joy if he is
not willing to work a paid job!? There will be big problems. (Judge)

Even assuming that the court might ask such question to the accused, the
judges, however, emphasize that the defendants answer should not be
the most important criterion in decision making on sentencing to the
forced labour and that the final judgement will still always be within the
judges competence. Whereas, in order the court itself should not
determine the punishment, a possibility for the accused to influence the
67
choice of the type of punishment is left in the pretrial process agreeing on
that with the prosecutor.

At the moment untypical cases (around one tenth) are those when the
judges are always asking the defendants agreement, asking once again
whether the punishment is understandable, find out whether any reasons
exist that might refrain from the forced labour execution. Sometimes
questions are asked in an indirect, leading way because the judge may
not ask whether you agree to perform the forced labour.

If the court needs an approval or there is doubt about suitability of the
punishment to the respective person then more often than asking direct
questions to offenders the judges are used to approach other authoritative
enough institutions municipality, social service, State Probation Service
and the decisions making is based on their resolution or assessment
report.

3.2.7. Reapplication of the forced labour

Usually in cases when the person has already been sentenced once and
has not served the forced labour sentence, the judges choose some other
more appropriate or severe punishment. The majority of the interviewed
judges evaluating the personality assess also the persons former criminal
records and attitude towards the forced labour as a type of punishment.
There have been cases, however, in the practice of the State Probation
Service that one and the same person is reimposed the forced labour even
if the person has not been able to serve this sentence in the previous
time. The judges explain those cases by the fact that the law does not
restrict such practice. In case the forced labour is not executed it is
replaced by a custodial arrest, thus in terms of the law the sentence has
been served. It means that the next time, if permitted by the sanction of
the Section of the law, the forced labour may be imposed if the judge
considers it as the best alternative. As already described before, formally
the court takes into account uppermost the offence, its severity and
envisaged sanctions and only then the personality is being assessed.

If the sanction of Sections of the law permits, why not I can
impose it. If he fails to execute, let him go and serve the sentence
in the prison. If I imposed a conditional sentence, what would come
out of it? He will calmly work. Nothing is to be done. (Judge)

But if the offence is small and the sentence has been already served
once, why not to serve it another time. (Judge)

68
The forced labour is being reimposed also in cases the judge wishes to
give an offender another chance and hopes that the person might have
changed over this time.

May be he has changed his attitude. The law does not restrict
reimposition if he has served the previous sentence. (Judge)

... I allow for such possibility of doing so only when assessing some
particular case. If a person has changed an attitude towards the
type of punishment. (Judge)

The majority of judges, however, state that deliberate disregard or
evasion of the forced labour is serious enough argument in order not to
choose such sentence in the next time. Such action indicates either on
health problems that shall be taken into account imposing another type of
punishment or a devil-may-care-attitude, unwillingness to confess ones
own offence and change that in its turn means a need for more severe
punishment.

3.2.8. Assessment of the forced labour and necessity to participate
in behaviour correction activities of the State Probation Service.

At the moment the State Probation Service has developed social
behaviour correction programs to change the offenders behaviour, refrain
them from future violations and facilitate their integration in the society.
Application of these programs let change the persons behaviour,
motivating him and teaching to think and react to various situations and
problems in a different way. Applying various social behaviour correction
measures it is possible to achieve a development of permanent changes in
the persons behaviour, refraining them from violations and integrating
them in the society. It helps people to learn the skills required to control
their emotions, distinguish dangerous situations and duly avoid them,
making rational decisions, to develop respectful relations, etc.

Developing the social behaviour correction mechanisms in Latvia,
experience of Canadian, Netherlandic, Danish, Irish and Swedish Probation
Services operations was taken into consideration. At the moment a
general probation program EQUIP has been prepared and is being
implemented for work with the juvenile and youth, whereas, there are
three programs prepared for adults that teach them to control their
behaviour in such way to reduce the risk of recidivism of violations. The
adult behaviour correction programs developed in Latvia are as follows:
Respectful Relationship, Substance Abuse Management as well as
Violence Prevention Program. EQUIP is a program that using the peer
assistance method helps the youth to think strategically and act in a
responsible way in order to prevent violations of law. The aim of the
69
program Respectful Relationship is to provide participants with a
possibility to develop particular skills and methods to stop abuse in
relationship. The aim of the program Substance Abuse Management is to
reduce the harm of using addictive substances, limiting the use of
substances and teaching clients to control their behaviour in order to
avoid violation of the law. The Violence Prevention Program has been
developed to eliminate and teach the client to control manifestations of
aggression. This program is intended for those probation clients whose
offences relate to a physical violence
31
.

Talking in the study about a possibility of imposing the forced labour along
with participation in some of the State Probation Service social behaviour
correction programs, a part of judges showed quite positive attitude.
Reasons underlying the positive attitude of judges relate to a belief in a
possibility to change the offenders behaviour on one hand, and the need
for a greater flexibility and penal variations on the other hand, looking for
solutions to get the aim of the punishment achieved to refrain a person
from future violations.

Those judges, who consider that it is not appropriate to apply social
behaviour correction programs along with the forced labour, give the
following arguments to their point of view:
the programs are too long in comparison with the time required for
the forced labour execution;
it would be quite impossible for working people to join the forced
labour with participation in programs;
the forced labour is already a real punishment that becomes too
severe if additionally the person is obliged to attend the social
behaviour correction programs;
there is no information and confidence in the efficiency of programs
that would be proved by only specific studies in this field;
behaviour correction measures of a compulsory nature to a certain
extent may not be considered efficient.

Some judges see in combining the most appropriate amount of the forced
labour and correction programs that unacceptable for them principle of
bargaining or agreement. Mainly those judges express objections to it
who do not accept any assignment of choice or responsibility to the
defendant.

Other objections regarding the application of the mentioned practice were
about that the law does not provide for such possibility therefore it is
expected that this obstacle will be eliminated by amendments in the
respective regulations.

31
Information provided by the State Probation Service. www.probacija.lv
70
The judges give the following arguments why sentencing of the forced
labour and correction programs should be allowed:
achievement of the educational goal of the punishment would be
facilitated;
influenced by activities and psychological consultations, the persons
behaviour could change;
simultaneous execution of the sentence along with the behaviour
correction measures would discipline the convict;
the convict might find a motivation to undergo treatment of alcohol
or drug addiction;
a skill to develop non-violent relations with surrounding people
would be practised.

Anyway, as much as possible must be done to help the person take
the correctional way. If he is an alcohol or drug addict that is very
often a basic reason why a person commits criminal offences at all,
then the person shall be given a chance and be made to understand
that only by getting rid of addiction he may free himself from the
bad habit of committing crimes. (Judge)

The judges mention that it would be particularly important to use such
programs for youth because basically a persons psyche and mind is to be
directed in the right direction. Especially, if those are the young people.

A part of judges who in general appreciate combining the forced labour
and social behaviour programs emphasize that the information about the
existence, choice and suitability of the respective program for the person
should come from the State Probation Service staff, for instance, including
it in the assessment report.

Everything is connected with the information. In order to apply I
shall know that such program exists. I have to know what to apply.
(Judge)

Judges note that already the existing legislation allows application of the
forced labour along with other additional sentences, for instance,
deprivation of rights or confiscation of property. The more active judges
are already now imposing quite often the obligation to attend the social
behaviour correction program if they consider it useful and the SPS has
suggested it. It is being combined with the conditional sentence that is
mainly imprisonment, however, in certain cases it has also been a
conditional forced labour. Upon successful participation in the program the
person shall not serve the basic sentence anymore. In order for the
punishment to achieve its goals, it would, however, be worth combining
participation in the correction program along with real serving of a
sentence performing works for public benefit.

71
I like these programs very much in general and its a pity that we
may impose an obligation to participate in them only in case the
person is sentenced conditionally. I would like to combine it with the
forced labour, too. Just to have an additional duty. (Judge)

The practical solutions in using combined sentences would be, for
instance, application of the forced labour as the basic sentence along with
an additional sentence, duty (for instance, one day works, the other day
goes to the program) or condition (for instance, the forced labour with a
behaviour control). The judges offer also such solution that in case it has
not been included in the assessment report, the SPS could offer the
respective program later on during the forced labour execution if they
consider it necessary. Adopting the respective amendments to the law it
would be definitely necessary to envisage also adequate consequences in
case of failing to execute the forced labour and fulfil the additional duties.

The judges very often associate the SPSs social behaviour correction
programs with a compulsory treatment and sometimes it is also pointed
out as the main benefit of applying such programs. There was a
contradictory attitude towards the compulsory treatment observed among
judges. One group of them consider that the past experience when it was
possible to sentence to compulsory treatment of alcohol addiction was
efficient enough and it should be continued also now. However, it is stated
that there are no resources and political will for that. Another part
considers that any treatment should be based on the principle of voluntary
participation and if the person agrees he may undergo treatment also
without interference of the court.

I would definitely use such option. In particular if the compulsory
treatment would have been ensured controlled by the SPS. (Judge)

That would be good if compulsory treatment might be imposed. [..]
It shall be free of charge because such people definitely have no
money. Otherwise, perhaps, they would undergo treatment
themselves. (Judge)

If it were possible to realize the treatment in reality then it would
not be bad. If there were a place to put them and a normal
treatment existed, why not then? At the moment there is no place
where to do it. The hospital has no such unit. If it were possible,
then definitely. (Judge)

I dont believe it is possible to cure of alcoholism a person who is
not willing to do it himself. I might only be for him to think about it.
(Judge)
72
3.3. Practical execution and difficulties of the forced
labour

The practical execution of the forced labour and difficulties connected with
it is one of the main issues studying the efficiency of the forced labour
sentence. Mutual co-operation of the court, State Probation Service and
employers is also an important issue considering this matter in order to
ensure in practice an efficient achievement of the goal of the forced labour
sentence. This section will cover both the possibilities of the State
Probation Service and employers to ensure the forced labour execution
according to the law that forms the grounds for recommendations on the
required improvements for enhancing the forced labour execution.

3.3.1. Evaluation of co-operation of the court and the State
Probation Service

Evaluation of co-operation of the court and the State Probation Service
consists of two parts. The first of them considers co-operation of duly
informing the convict on the order of serving the forced labour sentence.
The other one describes the feedback, namely, statements on the forced
labour execution prepared by the SPS.

It is important that easy and comprehensible information on the order of
serving the forced labour sentence is available to the convict. The law sets
forth that the convict sentenced to the forced labour is obliged within five
working days from the day the court judgement comes into force to
register for serving the imposed sentence with the forced labour execution
institution according to the declared place of residence. Provided that the
convict does not register within the set period of time with the forced
labour execution institution in order to evade serving the sentence, he is
warned in writing about replacing the forced labour with a custodial arrest.

Regardless of the fact that after announcing the courts judgment the
convict is informed about the above mentioned terms, the judges often
indicate that an additional informative material is required for the convict
to take with. That way misunderstandings and cases of a deliberate
evasion from commencing the sentence execution would be eliminated.

We certainly explain what the forced labour means but at that
moment when the court judgment is being read the person is not
perceiving everything so clearly as it would be in case there was
such brochure that he might read and find a complete information.
The persons are though worried more or less about what that
sentence is going to be and till the moment the judgment is being
read they do not know what the sentence is. They are happy for the
73
fact that they are not sentenced to prison and dont hear anything
else. Just reply with yes, yes. Any additional information that is
given also to relatives on the sentence, sentence execution and
circumstances would be useful. If there were such possibility then
that information would have been given together with the judgment
because it is not complicated. (Judge)

Then people would know where they have to go to serve the
sentence. It would not increase any bureaucracy. (Judge)

It is to be noted here that brochures whose necessity the judges are
talking about, the State Probation Service staff are used to prepare and
place in the court building. The researchers have obtained informative
materials issued by different territorial structural units of the State
Probation Service on what one should know if the person is imposed a
criminal sentence forced labour. It contains a short description of the
forced labour as punishment and summary of the most essential
regulations that the convict sentenced to the forced labour is obliged to
observe. At the end of the informative material there are contact details of
the respective territorial structural units of the State Probation Service
given contact persons, address and office hours.

Comments of judges who are familiar with the informative materials
prepared by the State Probation Service show that it is necessary to
improve the system of information.

Issuing a duplicate of the court judgment the secretary gives to the
convict such leaflet for reading on the forced labour or conditional
sentence prepared by the SPS that is hard to call a brochure.
Generally it should be elaborated in more detail because it is not an
initiative of the whole SPS but of our probation [structural unit]
only. I think there are no such in other courts at all. They gave us
and we make copies and give them. There is a phone number given
there where the person may turn to and also an explanation of what
it all means. It is handed out without signing but it is given for their
information. It is not our duty but its being done so that they knew
everything. (Judge)

The study that FACTUM carried out in the target group of the forced
labour performers in November 2005 also suggested that the State
Probation Service should improve the distribution system of informative
brochures. Although the materials may be disposed in easy accessible and
visible stands in the court building, it would be efficient to attach the
respective information to the written decision of the court. In such cases,
74
perhaps, it should be envisaged that the convict approves with a signature
that he has received the given material
32
.

In order to enhance the mutual co-operation of institutions as well as to
find out and solve co-operational problems in the probation area the
Advisory Board of the State Probation Service has been established that is
a coordinating and advisory institution
33
. A decision of practical dealing
with certain problems identified here and further in the report should be
made by the Board in order to enhance a higher support of other law
enforcement institutions to the decisions made and action taken.

Although neither the SPS employees nor judges indicate that vital
problems exist in coordinating interaction of both institutions, the acquired
data and instances considered in the study show that disagreements are
possible that are caused by the different attitude of institutions involved in
sentencing and execution of the forced labour towards the forced labour
as a punishment. The positive impact of the forced labour is also reduced
by the convicts being uninformed and various misunderstandings that
derive from different interpretation of legal regulations.

Section 138 of Latvian Penalty Execution Code sets forth that if during
serving the sentence the convict without an excuse fails to observe the
terms and order of serving the sentence which he or she has been
introduced with, the forced labour execution institution (SPS) after
clarifying the reasons of such action shall warn the convict of the possible
consequences and replacement of the forced labour with a custodial arrest
in accordance with the Criminal Law. If the convict fails to take into
account the stated warning and repeats violation of the terms and order of
serving the sentence without an excuse, such action shall be considered
as a malicious evasion of serving the sentence, and the forced labour
execution institution submits to the District (City) Court an application of
replacing this penalty with a custodial arrest in accordance with the
Criminal Law. The forced labour execution shall be terminated until the
case is heard at the court.
34
.

Section 134 of the Penalty Execution Code sets forth that if the convict
evades serving the sentence or on objective grounds is not able to
continue serving the sentence, the SPS shall prepare and submit to the
District or City Court an application of the need to replace the sentence
imposed on the convict, namely forced labour with another type of
penalty
35
. Opinions of officers involved in the forced labour organization

32
FACTUM. Study on the Target Group of the Forced Labour. Survey of Results. FACTUM,
November 2005, page 2 - 3.
33
Regulation No 817 of the Cabinet of Ministers. Regulations on the Advisory Board of
the State Probation Service. 28 September 2004, Latvijas Vstnesis 156 (3104).
34
Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. Latvian Penalty Execution Code, Section 138.
35
The same, Section 134.
75
and execution differ in that aspect at what moment the forced labour
should be replaced with more severe punishment for the convict and what
conditions shall be taken into consideration replacing one punishment with
another. As a result situations may occur that in a way come in conflict
with the goal of community-based punishments.

Recently I sentenced one old man to a prison. The SPS by no means
wanted to imprison him either. He had the prosecutors injunction
there on a sentence with the serving deadline of 1October. The SPS
searched for him for a long time because he had been sick. But then
in September he started to work every day those 2 or 4 hours. By 1
October he had not managed to complete 48 hours. The prosecutor
did not update the term. He was put on trial. We arranged hearing
the case with a though in mind that he will work those 48 hours by
the court judgement. The SPS prohibited him to work and serve the
sentence. But it is not written anywhere that one may not work until
the court judgment. (Judge)

We postponed another [case] here where the person still had to
work some hours and the term [of hearing] had not come either.
But if such term has been set the convict has right to complete the
work by that term. The SPS explained according to instruction so
that they were withholding that case, prohibiting to continue
working and preparing documents for the court in order to change
the forced labour by a custodial arrest due to non-completed hours.
And even if the person is still coming, they are not allowed to give
him work. We postponed the hearing, gave time but even then they
did not allow him to work because an official decision should be
made permitting him to work. (Judge)

The law strictly sets forth what a malicious evasion of the forced
labour is but the judge is not always taking account in our
application those violations and work and resources put in by the
Probation Service to execute this forced labour, and gives a person
a possibility to serve this sentence at liberty although he had really
evaded in bad faith from this forced labour. As a result it gives such
as sense of indemnity to a person because the next time he thinks
that the court will give some possibilities again and I will somehow
complete that forced labour. It is not very pleasant because the
probation employee puts in that work big resources and efforts.
(SPS employee)

The moment an application on replacing the forced labour with more
severe punishment is submitted to the court depends on a particular SPS
employee. As in general the SPS employees stress a need for that the
convicts under sentencing of the forced labour served the sentence,
applications on sentence replacement are usually submitted later than
after one warning to the convict and fixing a repeated violation the SPS
76
employees continue working with the convict and submission of
application to a greater extent depends on the SPS employees work style
and attitude towards the forced labour as a type of punishment.

From those application I have seen, the SPS is sending once, twice,
a person usually comes, a new schedule is being set, he promises
again, does something, disappears again, and he is being searched
for again. Sometimes it seems that in that case the application [on
sentence replacement] should have been already submitted long
ago. (Judge)

The SPS employees sometimes note that nursing with the convicts had
most often been observed in the early period of the SPSs operation,
relying to a certain extent to ideals of community-based sentences but
lately the SPSs action is becoming more pragmatic. But also in this case
one of the most important factors is the experience of the particular SPS
employee in work with the convicts the more the employee has faced
the convicts nihilistic attitude, carelessness, sneering, lying and suchlike
the less interested the employee is to continue the work with the convict
after repeated violations of sentence execution.

The cup is full when we may see that he perceives it as a joke, as a
mockery of the punishment as such. It is obvious that the person
has been violating dozen times, he is [however] invited, talked to,
promises to work, leaves and fails to work again. The second time,
the third time.. One may continue so on but that in general levels
off the judicial system as such and then that breaks the camels
back because there are no any other options left. But I am trying to
work with him if only there is a chance he would really work because
I consider that it is still better if he works than simply sits behind
the bars. (SPS employee)

In certain cases it is useful to force the person to serve the sentence
and only in certain cases to deal with the question of replacement. I
allow this wet-nursing. It is a loose concept whether we nurse a
year when there is no any positive result or it is a short period
seeing that those problems really are. The nursing should not
definitely turn into a situation that he may do as he wishes coming
once and promising, coming the second time and promising, but if
there is a good reason, it shouldnt be at once that way: you did not
come, received a warning and thats it youre put on trial and
sentenced to prison. (Judge)

The judges appreciate applications prepared by the SPS employees on
replacing the forced labour with more severe punishment where
appropriate. The judges consider that applications are:
Well-grounded the SPS employees submit application on the
sentence replacement in cases when all other possibilities of
77
attracting the convict to the sentence execution have been
exhausted;
Complete and detailed the applications include all inspections,
warning and records the SPS employees have drawn up as well as
schedules of the total and worked work hours;
Clear - applications are submitted as one file that contains all
required documents.

Although there are very few hearings on replacing the forced labour
sentence, the judges consider that the SPS employees presentations at
hearings where it is being decided on replacing the forced labour with a
custodial arrest are qualitative. During these hearings the SPS employees
introduce the court and prosecutor with the course of serving the sentence
and what violations of sentence execution the convict committed. If there
had been any difficulties related to the reports and presentations of the
SPS employees, they had been in the early period of SPS operation. The
underlying reasons were a lack of experience and special education.

According to Section 134 of Latvian Penalty Execution Code one of the
SPS responsibilities is after execution of the judgment to inform about it
the court which imposed the forced labour to the respective person
36
.
Summarizing the judges opinions on the quality of statements prepared
by the SPS mainly a positive evaluation has been received.

There are no any objections. They [the statements on the forced
labour execution prepared by the SPS employees] are quite
elaborated and exhaustive. Within their limits they are basically
doing well. (Judge)

Paying attention to the statements on the quality of the forced labour
execution prepared by the SPS, the judges opinions differ. Attention is
paid to mainly two vital issues:
To a moment the judge needs the statements. The statements seem
to be necessary and very valuable deciding on replacing the forced
labour with a custodial arrest, imposing the most appropriate type of
punishment in case of the next violation and commencing the
extinguishing of conviction.
To the amount and nature of information included in the statements.
The judges emphasize the role of the practical information
included in the statements that may be useful in deciding on
replacing the sentence or imposing the most appropriate
punishment in future. Information on the convicts attitude towards
work and number of violations during the sentence execution is
vital. In certain cases the judges state that they would like to see
information on the content of work performed by the convict and the

36
78
employer in order in case of a repeated violation the court may
impose the most appropriate type of punishment.

There is no use of a statement at the moment that sentence has
been already served because it is attached to the file as a statement
of execution. It counts when there is an application for a custodial
arrest. It may contain some more detailed information on what the
attitude has been during working. It helps to decide. It might
contain both the SPSs and employers information. (Judge)

The court shall receive information which it is working with. Whether
he has performed, whether no violations have been observed,
whether he has worked in good faith. It may be later used hearing
the next case. It is normal there now. (Judge)

The statement might contain information on the work performed
and the employer because in future if this person commits an
offence, the court might ask for some personal characteristics from
that employer who assigned those tasks for serving the forced
labour. How did the person behave, how did he serve the forced
labour whether unwillingly and cutting hours and minutes every
day, or willingly, without problems, objections, so that he may be
appointed to a permanent employment. (Judge)

3.3.2. Co-operation between the State Probation Service and
employers.

According to Section 137 of Latvian Penalty Execution Code the employer
which has entered into an agreement with the forced labour execution
institution on employing convicted persons or which is employing
convicted persons for public benefit without an agreement, shall assign
the convicts a respective work which they can do in their free time outside
the regular employment or studies. The employer shall fulfil the following
duties
37
:
to ensure for the convicts work conditions pursuant to the labour
protection requirements, to introduce them with the labour
protection regulations and rules of order;
to provide the convicts with tools and instruments required for
performance of the work;
to monitor how the convicts perform the assigned work.

Employers maintain a close co-operation with the SPS employees in their
daily work ensuring the forced labour execution. It reveals, first, as
informing and agreeing that there is a convict sentenced to the forced

37
79
labour, and, second, as drawing up the work schedule, and, third, as a
control of the assigned work and work schedule made.

When the person is sentenced to the forced labour, the SPS gets in touch
with the employer which has signed a co-operation agreement and offers
to employ certain offenders. During this conversation the SPS employee
finds out the employment possibilities and informs the employer about the
starting time and total period of the sentence execution. In most cases
the employer has already notified the SPS on what groups of convicts he
acknowledges as possible to employ. The groups of convicts are divided
by offence, convicts working skills and qualification.

We have a good co-operation with one SPS employee and she more
or less knows what clients she may send to us. We agreed that it
would be good if mainly youth and teenagers came to us.
(Employer)

I get a call from the Probation Service asking whether I am able to
employ someone at the moment. If they called right now, I could
not if that person would work only at weekends. If the person might
come on work days, we could perhaps employ someone. I have
already two people working at weekends. We may run out of those
works to be assigned to that person or in such case the municipality
should think about employing that person. If I can take this person,
we find out his age and when he is able to start working, and then
this first meeting is arranged. (Employer)

Upon employers agreement the SPS employee together with the convict
comes to the employer to introduce each other and draw up and agree on
the sentence execution schedule. The employer interviews the convict
specifying his working skills and qualification in order to assign the most
appropriate work.

We discuss his possibilities. Whether he is able to work those four
hours and what time in the morning or afternoon, whether he
works anywhere else; we ask all that what he could do himself,
what is his profession and then we see whether in the workshops,
as machine-operators, somewhere in repairs, and in case he doesnt
fit anywhere, we make him mow something. (Employer)

Then arrives the Probation Service, a person comes, I come; I have
already thought before what work I am going to assign and thought
in general about those people; the Probation Service also gives
certain information over the phone about the approximate time
when the person will be able to start working, and then we all meet,
I show the work to be performed. Then we do all paper work,
namely, I must have a work order and schedules. After the person
80
has completed work I shall write a reference to the court.
(Employer)

When the convict comes on the arranged day of commencing the sentence
execution, he is introduced to the labour safety regulations and where
appropriate provided with the materials required for work, and starts
serving the sentence.

The convicts are usually employed in low-qualified works, such as
cleaning, work in heating supply (heating, firewood supply). In cases
when the convict has a definite professional qualification the employer
tries to find work appropriate for qualification, though higher-qualified
work is connected with a higher risk and responsibility for the forced
labour performer.

We assess his qualification what he is capable of doing. We already
know the local people, there are almost no strangers. We already
know what type of fish [a person with certain personal traits] he
is. We know at once what we will be able to make him to do. For
instance, if he can weld, we wont make him to cut bushes. Lets
make that one to cut who cannot do anything else. It could be
possible to make that one who can weld to cut bushes, too, but
human skills shall be used as efficient as possible. (Employer)

I dont know what it was I would not give the convict to do. May be
work with machinery or something like that. It is, however, a source
of a higher risk and we shall be responsible for them. Yet, they
undergo instruction and sign it. Basically we are trying to give such
works that are low-qualified. (Employer)

In general and comparing to time when municipalities were responsible for
the forced labour organization employers are satisfied with the SPS
operation because now there is an institution that fulfils both the
administrative work and the largest part of control functions.

We have a very good co-operation with the SPS. The SPS employees
call me and I call them if someone is absent for work. They take
measures. The SPS also comes to control whether they work and
how they work. They are quite often going for inspection and
checking. (Employer)

Now we have no any paper work anymore; the only thing I shall do
is to record whether he has arrived and what he has done.
(Employer)

In certain cases co-operation between the SPS employees and employers
is insufficient. Such situations, however, occur only in the problem cases
such as when the convict has not performed the forced labour at the set
81
amount and time, the SPS employees have no precise information on the
number of hours the offender has really worked. Ambiguity occurs if the
SPS has submitted an application to the court on the sentence
replacement and the number of hours in the application differs from those
the convict has stated and the employer has approved.

An initiative of attracting employers mainly comes from the SPS
employees who meet with the employers and offer to enter into an
agreement on providing work places for the convicts under sentencing of
the forced labour. Employers - municipal institutions and enterprises and
public benefit (non-governmental) organizations usually do not refuse and
co-operate with the SPS. The data, however, show that in the big cities
the number of employers is insufficient and it is difficult to involve them in
organizing the forced labour. There are very few cases when the employer
himself has expressed an initiative and contacted the SPS wishing to
employ the forced labour performers. In those cases the employer usually
is a NGO whose initiative may be related to the existence of the social
responsibility and it is characteristic to employers outside Riga.

The SPS offered us to participate in this process. It happened in the
Council around two years ago. There was a meeting in the Council in
which the Head of the SPS from Riga, [local] Head and
representatives of the non-governmental organisations and
entrepreneurs participated. Then those who wanted could sign a co-
operation agreement and we got involved, too. (Employer)

I am willing to give people such chance to put their wrong deeds
right at liberty in order to keep them off from being imprisoned.
(Employer)

Apparently the SPS employee had talked to someone from the
municipality and afterwards the Probation Service found me and so
the official involvement and co-operation with the Probation Service
started. And I told very good, that is exactly I want. (Employer)

Both the employers and State Probation Service employees appreciate and
give a positive evaluation to informative meetings organized by the SPS in
which attention is paid to the forced labour execution and its goals. There
is a view among employers prevailing that similar meetings shall be
organized on a regular basis. Whereas, the SPS employees have noticed
also the same what could be observed in the course of the study, namely,
not always the employers understand why the forced labour shall be
considered a punishment that is also advisable to talk about during
seminars organized by the SPS.

Such events as meetings with employers are organized by the
management every year. But I consider that it would be necessary
to talk not only about what we are but also explain in detail the
82
essence of the punishment, the way we are employing, in what
circumstances and suchlike. (SPS employee)

Summarizing the experience of both employers and SPS employees, a list
of factors may be given that to a smaller or greater extent prevent the
employers from participating in the forced labour execution. Three vital
factors have been concluded that lessen the desire of the potential
employers to respond to the SPSs invitations. These reasons are as
follows:
Negative attitude and fear of offenders;
Employers possibilities to offer a respective work for the forced
labour performers;
The need to involve in the forced labour organization ones own
employees and other inconveniences that arise observing the legal
requirements of the forced labour execution.

The employers personal attitude towards the community-based sentences
and anxiety the employers relate to employing the convicts is a very
important factor in establishing co-operation with the SPS. The SPS
employees and employers mention that employment of the convicts is
very often connected with an additional risk of becoming a victim as well
as a possibility that the projected works will not be completed. Although a
part of employers admit that anxiety had been bigger than it really turned
out, the execution of work, however, is not always going smoothly and
sometimes it causes losses to the employer.

We were afraid of what that contingent would be that would come to
us. We have such a prejudice that all offenders are saboteurs and
unwilling to work. It was the first aspect, and the second that
caused a little anxiety was about what works we would be able to
entrust him with? That is because we have to find work that
complies to the labour protection requirements as we may not let
him work with various machineries. They must work 100 to 200
hours, they come for a certain time only, and therefore we are
finding such simpler works. (Employer)

May be in the beginning they [employers] thought last year: wont
they be some murderers, rapists? I said no, forced labour is not
imposed for such crimes; that it is only for offences like drinkdriving.
So we convinced them and they see that in fact there is no fear but
they ask to warn them in case the person has been sentenced for
thefts, so that they could keep an eye on that person. (SPS
employee)

A part of employers avoids employing offenders sentenced for thefts
because they relate it to the need of a higher control and risk. Often
employers signing an agreement with the SPS indicate that they are not
willing to employ certain groups of offenders (both sentenced for thefts
83
and those with substance abuse problems). The SPS respects such
requirements of the employer because they are interested in a successful
co-operation.

We pay more attention to those sentenced for thefts we are not
very willing to employ them here, in these premises. Then we give
work more in the city where the sweeper maybe gives him a
cleaning job in a separate territory. (Employer)

Up to now we have not faced such employers who would totally
disagree but we have had such that would show some ambitions.
Here it may be talking about definite Sections of the Criminal Law
we wont take for such and such Paragraph. For instance, for thefts.
Then there are situations that the employer wants to see that
convict. A persons comes to like almost a fashion show well, we
are such and such; we dont want him, though! He looks too such or
too criminal. These are then the basic features the employer looks
at...the employer is very sceptical about thefts, doesnt take such
persons. And in case they take, then they ask dont we have to
keep a closer eye on him in any way? (SPS employee)

There have been cases when the employer is interested in who that
person is, what about the material values if the person is let in the
room. He will work there and he has been sentenced for theft, then
it is risky. [..] It is logical that the employer wont be willing to risk
and take that person, even if the person is appointed to painting
works and he has a criminal record for such Sections [for theft], he
is unlikely to be taken. (SPS employee)

In certain cases employers dont want to employ Romans relating
employment of this ethnic group to an increased risk and control.

Speaking about provision of the forced labour execution employers often
indicate that it is hard to find a proper work. In happens in cases if, for
instance, work required by the municipality or appropriate (i.e.
assignable) for the convict is not sufficient enough or works are of a
seasonal nature. Such hardship most often appears in the small
municipalities. The bigger municipalities seldom face such situations the
forced labour performer, for instance is involved in some municipal
cleaning or maintenance groups. Employers attitude towards the forced
labour as a type of punishment is a considerable factor in providing the
convicts with work if the employers attitude towards the punishment
type is positive the problems to provide the convict with work are
mentioned less.

In certain cases employers point out that difficulties are caused by the
necessity to provide the convicts with the required machinery and
protective materials. Fear of the fact that the offender may steel the
84
equipment or damage it bearing no material responsibility for that is also
mentioned.

There was a proposal that they could cut bushes on the roadsides.
We can offer an axe but if he has a saw, let him take and come with
his own equipment. We will not give him equipment as he may
break it or disappear with it. It is just to maintain our own peace. If
he comes with his own saw and gas, it is his own bonus that he can
do it much faster. (Employer)

The main problems are qualification and labour protection. Because
we must be responsible for them. They have to work with
machinery. That according to the labour protection inspecting
officers explanation is a tool of an increased risk. It causes then
some problems. We have to provide him with coveralls at once.
These are extra costs for us. We may also offer the ordinary axe
go and cut. We tell during instruction that he must beware of cutting
in a leg and must not throw and aim at other people, and thats it.
Therefore they are more employed in auxiliary works. (Employer)

3.3.3. Practices of the forced labour execution

Section 135 of Latvian Penalty Execution Code sets forth that while
serving the sentence persons involved in the forced labour shall observe
the internal rules of order, labour discipline, labour safety and protection
regulations, perform in good faith the task assigned, fulfil the employers
instructions, and serve every day the set number of work hours. If the
convict is not able to execute the forced labour for illness or other
important reason, the person shall inform about it the forced labour
execution institution that, approving the reasons of the convicts absence
as plausible, may suspend the penalty execution for a period of no more
than one week or for a period of sickness, entering a respective record in
a personal file. The convicts vacation at the regular employment or a
study leave may not be a basis for suspension of the sentence execution.
The convict may not leave the country during the period of serving the
sentence without a written permission of the forced labour execution
institution. While serving the sentence the convict must not turn up at the
forced labour execution institution and place of the forced labour
execution under the influence of alcohol, drugs or psychotropic
substances.
38
.

It was mentioned above that the forced labour performers are usually
given less qualified work, however, if the employer knows the convicts
qualification a person is employed in his profession. Employers are most

38
85
satisfied in cases when the forced labour performer has a profession that
is widely demanded in the market, for instance, some of construction
specialities that allow the employer to satisfy the needs with less
contribution. Here the employers attitude and initiative also play an
important role, namely, whether he is interested to get the utmost public
benefit possible from the work completed by the forced labour performer
or not. If the employer is able to organize work and collaborate with the
forced labour performer then the quality of work completed is high.

I am very satisfied because they have done such works for me that
would cost a big money otherwise. For instance, Fire Service issued
a note that all attics of municipal buildings and schools must be
applied some anti-fire substance [poison]. I could not find local
people for such work. Then there was a young man who agreed. I
gave him a respirator and everything else needed. He applied
everything, worked well those hours. [..] The fellow had to go in the
attics with a pump like a sprayer. Someone had to do that work
anyway. We saved a lot of resources by one such step. (Employer)

If I am not satisfied with the quality of work, I point it out and make
redo it once again. If he had not redone, I did not count in those
hours. Afterwards he started to do his best. I have such right if I am
not satisfied with something. I definitely informed the SPS about the
existence of such problems. (Employer)

Some employers mentioned that they were ready to take the forced
labour performer for a permanent employment as well as some convicts
had been interested in such possibility. In very few cases it has been
realized (usually for piecework) because the employer has no vacancies
or the offered pay does not satisfy the person who is interested.

He fit in well in the team and he liked that work. We had a good
human contact and asked whether he could stay and work. But,
while we got to the pay, builders had already headhunted him. We
cannot pay so much. (Employer)

Opinions of judges, State Probation Service employees and employers on
that to what extent the forced labour should be publicly served
punishment, differ. On one hand it is assumed that publicly served
punishment perhaps will be more effective but on the other hand it may
be connected with absence in the forced labour execution place and
possible psychological traumas. Therefore it is considered that publicly
served forced labour might be imposed in cases a person commits a
repeated violation.

I have had two or three such people who say that they live here and
would like to work somewhere off this place. The other look for that
it [forced labour] is on the way from home to work. They are
86
certainly ashamed; if he will suddenly start to collect garbage near
the house, the neighbours will start asking questions. They
understand that he is guilty and everyone sees. (Employer)

If he has really come and is ready to start working and I would feel
that he is really ashamed I would yield. I would talk to him what
time he wants to work. If he started to break the schedule and
evade, I would not yield. If it is clear that he will work, I will yield.
For instance, let him work in the morning when friends are still
sleeping. Why not? (Employer)

Lets say one case its a disgrace for a gipsy to go and sweep a
street, it is like a religion for him. If I will make him now to sweep a
street here at the church, he wont work. He will better go to prison
but our aim is not to imprison him, our aim is to get him work these
hours without being ashamed. (SPS employee)

Raking leaves is not a shame, only folks are having a fling and
thats it. A sense of shame would perhaps be when it was
announced in the entire region and everyone would come to see
how that poor person is working and sweeping a street in the city
centre. There is no any sense of discomfort here because he has no
label on the back that he is the convict and many people here stay
outdoors all the time doing something; such situation is ordinary,
they are not paid such attention. (Employer)

Both the employers and State Probation Service employees note that the
forced labour performers may be divided in two big groups. The first
group is that observes the law and fulfils the forced labour in the set
order. The other group of convicts is that to a greater or lesser extent is
trying to evade the forced labour execution or commit other violations
related to the sentence execution. The data show that belonging to one or
the other group depends on different personal traits, for instance, whether
it is the first or repeated violation of the law for the person, committing
what criminal offence the person has been sentenced for, whether the
person has substance abuse problems, and suchlike.

A very positive experience is with those drinkdrivers; sentencing
them to prison would be the worst thing to be done; there is also a
conditional sentence but the forced labour is the best. (SPS
employee)

Those drivers we have usually complete the work. We consider
those as a very normal thing. (Employer)

It is so that people sentenced for some scheme or drinkdriving and
who are above 30 have much serious approach towards work,
regardless whether it is cutting bushes or transportation of garbage,
87
snow shovelling or work in the city cemeteries. They take it more
serious. (Employer)

They were such who came right at 8.00 oclock, spades in hand and
off to the flowerbed. We could work wonders with them. They said
that it is good they dont have to sit in a prison. Work ones hours
and afterwards everything is ok. They were happy that they could
atone by working, not sitting in a prison. (Employer)

Certainly, various cases occur. I may say 50/50. Fifty [per cent]
understand their offence and what they are expected now. The other
fifty [per cent] - those are a bit problematic. But I dont nurse with
them it is his life and the SPSs problem. (Employer)

The most popular violations of the forced labour execution and evasion of
performing the forced labour are:
Absence one of the most widespread violations that is often
connected with addictions;
Arrival under the influence of alcohol and use of alcohol during the
forced labour execution;
Involvement of friends and relatives in the forced labour execution;
Attempts / offers to agree with the employer on violating regulations
of the forced labour execution, such as faster counting of hours
worked; the employers indicate that they have refused the offers.

Someones friend came and worked outside. I asked what he was
doing there. He answered that he was helping to his brother. I said
thank you but let him come to help together with the brother. If
someone voluntarily [wants] let him come but not so that the
convict is absent and someone else is working. (Employer)

Cases of wishing to pay off have been. Two such cases have been. A
solution is very simple work! I would not have anything for that
but it is my prestige. Then it comes out that I am taking bribes. I
dont need it. (Employer)

The employers point out that an effective measure in order to prevent the
forced labour performers attempts to reach an agreement with the
employer on violating the forced labour conditions is awareness that the
State Probation Service employees may arrive any time to check whether
the convict is at the work place or not.

The employers, SPS employees and judges distinguish the following
problematic groups of the forced labour performers:
Persons with substance abuse problems;
Persons without a definite place of residence;
Persons with previous criminal records;
Younger people (the youth).
88

The forced labour is sometimes imposed to alcohol or drug addicts and
this problem is most common in the bigger cities of Latvia. Opinions of
judges, SPS employees and employers differ both in the question of
whether an addict should be helped, whether it is necessary to link the
punishment to compulsory treatment, and in the question of whether the
forced labour is appropriate for persons having substance abuse problems.

They are also physically weak, those young men, its really sad to
look at them that a twenty years old person can neither cut nor lean
down to pick up waste paper, its hard for him. And such work
unfortunately is not efficient especially for drug addicts. .. Another
interesting fact that is characteristic exactly to drug addicts is that
while working those hours he has already managed to do something
else steel something or suchlike. As a result this forced labour is
extended for him. (Employer)

A great majority as if pulls themselves together but a great part of
them is of no use. They come in such as autopilot, sign that
agreement, come together with the probation officer and we draw
up a Schedule. The next day he is supposed to be from 8 to 12
oclock and he must be punctual but he comes at 10 oclock, does
not show up at all, without any excuse. Because actually they are
not able to bring a sick-list. (Employer)

In the big cities problems arise when the forced labour performer is a
person without a definite place of residence. In regions this problem is
faced more rarely because in cases the convict lives somewhere else the
employer shall agree to organisation of the forced labour.

The forced labour performers with several criminal records are used to be
much indifferent to the forced labour; their behaviour is usually more
provocative therefore work with this group is connected with an increased
risk for both the employers and SPS employees.

We have one guy who shall start working soon if at all; he has been
sentenced for thievery and we already feel that we will face problems
because he had already been on trial five or six times. And whenever
he comes to our office, he is under alcohol intoxication and we are not
authorized to give him any papers for signing. (SPS employee)

A hard group in terms of communication often is young offenders
sentenced to the forced labour. The young people are used to ignore the
work schedule drawn up by the SPS employees and employers; they lack
an understanding of general human norms and values, responsibilities and
attitude towards work.

89
As far as I have talked to the SPS about minors who get under their
supervision, they are not able to make them complete those work
hours. He is not going and thats it! What can you do to him?
Motivate? How long can you motivate? (Employer, Riga)

The younger the offender, the more complicated he is. Due to
contemporary education and democracy at schools they do not
understand what responsibilities are. If an offender of age over 40
comes, no problem at all. 20 30 years old are a quite hard
contingent. They have never been used to work and do not
understand anything. (Employer)

Then he is cold, then ears freezing, then some other problems. In
fact, he hardly managed to work those ten hours and we were
exhausted too, and I already said that better not to send such [..]
Certainly, if the youth have no brains, you cannot do anything about
it anymore. If parents have not taught it during 17 years, neither
the municipality, nor services responsible for that case and court
would manage to do it. (Employer)

Until May 2007 the forced labour execution time per day should not
exceed four hours. That was set forth in Section 136 of Latvian Penalty
Execution Code: The convict may not be employed in the forced labour
more than two hours on work days and upon his or her consent no more
than four hours outside the regular employment or studies and no more
than four hours at weekends and on holidays
39
. While carrying out the
study there was information about an initiative to prolong the maximum
sentence execution time per day up to eight hours, upon fulfilment of
certain conditions, however, the majority of opinions of judges, employers
and the State Probation Service employees were acquired at the moment
when the mentioned initiative was not adopted in Saeima yet.

They are very dissatisfied with those set four hours. They would be
very willing to work eight hours in order to finish it faster. But the
Law probably does not allow for it. It is an ambiguous issue. If some
work has been started, it is not enough with four hours but on the
other hand it is perhaps accustoming the person to discipline. If
they worked here eight hours that labour efficiency would have been
lower, I suppose. (Employer)

Observation of the mentioned regulation was hard both for employers and
forced labour performers. In the convict is sentenced to the forced labour
to be executed for more than 200 hours, then the total sentence
execution time is quite long. In cases the convict wanted to serve the
sentence faster, in some places, especially in regions, it was practiced that

39
Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. Amendments to Latvian Penalty Execution Code,
Section 70. 14 October 1998. Latvijas Vstnesis 322/325 (1383/1386).
90
the employer let to work more hours a day, processing documents in
compliance with the legal requirements.

On 1 May 2007 amendments adopted by Saeima of the Republic of Latvia
to Paragraph 2 of Section 136 of Latvian Penalty Execution Code that was
stated in new wording came into effect: The convict may not be
employed in the forced labour more than two hours on work days and
upon his or her consent no more than four hours outside the regular
employment or studies, and no more than eight hours at weekends and
on holidays. Provided that the convict is not working and studying he may
be employed up to eight hours a day.
40
.

Although a part of the problems mentioned in the study that were
connected with the small number of the forced labour hours allowed might
be solved already in the middle of 2007, the amendments given above do
not solve the other problems related to accounting of the forced labour
execution time. For instance, the employer may be still interested that a
definite work is fulfilled faster letting the convict work more hours than set
in the schedule and compensating the speed of work completion with
roundup of hours. In cases when the SPS employees have found out
such action of employers, they were given a notice. The notified
employers indicate that they are not using such methods anymore.

It is to be taken into account that this labour has an educating
nature. Assigning these works we used piecework in some cases
completing this work so many hours will be counted in. As far as I
understand from the Probation Service he [the convict] has to work
exactly these hours though. It is an educating work, not work with
an aim to earn money for the municipality or oneself. (Employer)

As we were told, he must work all those hours and not come and do
something very quickly. We maybe sometimes do not follow so
strictly and round up those hours. (Employer)

Analysing the forced labour sentence execution it shall be noted that the
employers tolerance and even support to that the convict uses his own
personal resources, tools or instruments in serving the sentence might
diminish the moral effect of the punishment. Here the risk is hiding in the
circumstance that the forced labour performer is fairly punished for
committing a criminal offence on one hand, and is unfairly used at the
moment he is serving the sentence on the other hand.

It is to be noted that on one hand, use of personal resources is a necessity
determined by circumstances for instance, if all employers employees
are responsible for providing themselves with coveralls, the forced labour

40
Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. Amendments to Latvian Penalty Execution Code,
Section 21. 4 April 2007. Latvijas Vstnesis 62 (3638).
91
performer shall also care for it himself. It is a norm defined by local
circumstances and situation. In such cases the employers provide the
forced labour performers with gloves, masks or other more specific
resources required for execution of the work. In some other case the
employer gives an axe (less powered instrument) for completion of work
but the forced labour performer works with his own, more powerful motor-
saw.

The employers told that in the past there have been situations that they
have marked a part of hours imposed to the forced labour performer as
completed for the fact that the convict has contributed his own resources
for completing some work, for instance, had bought paint for repair works.
Denying the possibility of the described practice today several employers
admit that if resources required for more qualified performance of work
were assigned together with the forced labour performer, the labour force
would be used more effectively.

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3.3.4. Control of the forced labour execution

Daily control of the forced labour execution is ensured by the employer,
and the State Probation Service employees carry out a selective inspection
of whether the forced labour performer is at the place and time set in the
sentence execution schedule. Assignment and supervision of sentence
execution at the employers place is carried out by an appointed employee
who is usually the Head of Procurement or Public Utilities in the
municipality or some other employee who knows what works shall be
done at the respective moment. The employer, assigning the work marks
how many hours the forced labour performer has worked because it is a
point of reference on the forced labour sentence execution.

The employers face problems in such situations when the forced labour
performer is able to serve the sentence after work hours in the evenings
or at weekends. Although in general participating in the forced labour
execution the employer benefits from it because the work is done and
extra labour force acquired, the particular employee who is appointed to
supervise the execution feel those additional functions as a burden.

It happens that I have a free evening, he [probation client] comes,
wants to work but has not called in advance; if on the contrary
those [probation] service clients do not come, I have to find them
on my own resources and that is a heroic deed from my as
employers side. (Employer)

The Public Utilities finish work at 17.00, they go home but these
convicts come to work later in the evening. (Employer)

Now I am working with them strictly according to the schedule and
tell straight away that I am the convict, not them because I have to
be here. I give a schedule and he fails to come [in due time to work]
he must definitely call me and also the [Probation] Service.
(Employer)

Another problem is that the forced labour shall be performed in free
time outside the regular employment and studies. And the client has
free time on Saturdays, Sundays and after work, therefore a control
with regard to the client is encumbered because municipal officers
or people working in municipal enterprises, public organisations say
that we are not punished that we would have to look after this
person after work or on holidays. A sort of contradiction turns out
that in fact the person [employer] and we, too, have to work on
Saturdays, Sundays in order we could control those people. These
people, who have been punished, are at the same time violating the
conditions of the forced labour. I have maybe planned to control this
93
weekend and devoted my holiday but he has not showed up at
work. (SPS employee)

It is to be noted here that very few employers find any possibility to
compensate the time their employees spend for supervising the forced
labour performer outside the regular working hours.

I am also recording my own working hours spent for supervising the
convict because I am also like a convict. Then I submit to the
Accounting Department and I am paid for it 5 lats gross per person.
The parish pays me for organizing work. (Employer)

Taking into account that the majority of employers have no such financial
possibilities or for other reasons do not consider it necessary to
compensate their employees contribution in supervision of the forced
labour performers, such situations are observed when the time worked in
the forced labour is being recorded approximately. In such cases, for
instance, piecework is assigned calculating approximately what time the
given work requires and counting it as worked. In other cases the
employer gives work for weekends but checks the result on working days.

The problem is that there is no such distinct centre in our county. As
a result people live in a very wide territory. Therefore organisation
of these works from the technical point of view requires big efforts.
The person shall get here, we have to show him the work place and
afterwards control his work. We are not satisfied but we must do it
although it is not an easy game. Moreover, if that person is
irresponsible, then fixing of the results is quite complicated, too. The
work supervisor takes him there and shows. I may not ask him [the
work supervisor] to go and check there every day if it is within a
radius 20 km. It costs money and finally benefit turns into nought or
even loss. (Employer)

The State Probation Service employees are not satisfied with that the
employers simplify the supervision practice of the forced labour execution
because it increases the possibility that violations of the forced labour
execution will happen, for instance, the convicts will involve their relatives
or friends in completing the assigned work.

One arranged a joint work, a brother came to help but the hours
were not written off, it was simply easier for him to work.
(Employer)

Considering the employers motivation in regions it was mentioned that
often the convicts are well-known people because the forced labour is
being served in the municipality whether their place of residence is
registered. The same speaking about a control of the forced labour
execution the employer often knows what attitude towards work may be
94
expected from a particular person and the execution of work is often
arranged in a public place. So, the fact that in the small settlements the
local people and employers see whether the convict completes his work or
not, eliminates efforts of evading the sentence execution. In the big cities
attitude towards the forced labour performers is often less personal and
more business-like therefore agreement on faster completion of work or
other discounts are much rarer.

Commencing the forced labour execution the SPS employee, employer
and convict agree on the labour execution schedule on what days, what
time and how many hours the forced labour performer will work. It allows
planning time of all three involved parties that is particularly important for
the employer because as stated above, most often they are not
reimbursed for carrying out extra duties. In order to make sure that the
forced labour execution is being done according to the set schedule, the
State Probation Service employees check whether the forced labour
performer has arrived in the due time to perform the assigned work.

Although it is observed that the State Probation Service employees are
carrying out control according to the order set forth in the law that
disciplines the employers, its frequency is still differing in the regions of
Latvia. The structural units of the SPS are located in the centres of regions
and depending on the materially technical equipment the sense of
responsibility, enthusiasm and abilities of the employees to organize work,
and frequency of control visits differ; usually forced labour execution
places at the borders of the region are less controlled. In winter control
possibilities are limited by objective obstacles the forced labour
execution places are sometimes physically hard to access (for instance,
impassable roads). Most often SPS employees arrive to control the forced
labour execution twice a week without a prior notice to the employer and
the forced labour performers. It is considered that exactly such approach
in controlling the sentence execution accustoms the convicts to discipline
best.

Working with the forced labour performers the SPS employees shall be at
the same time strict, constructive and considerate, finding in case of need
an individual approach towards the convict they have to be able to
speak on equal level instead of talking from above, to prevent the
possible aggression and find the most appropriate communication
because in certain cases a reasonable joking is also efficient.

Some need to be persuaded, visited at home, he is not working,
does not come, does not provide a sick-list, then it is necessary to
search a little, teach and use a stronger language. Those who are
not taking it seriously in the beginning shall be talked to more in a
way a psychologist does. (SPS employee)

95
Younger clients of my age, maybe even younger or a bit older, they
come and in the beginning they have such a trivial attitude. Well,
what will you explain to me? But as soon as we get to that the
terms are read and it is explained that there are two options
either work promptly without any violations or another option in
case you dont want to work, you can spend your hours in a closed
cell. Then they start taking it seriously. (SPS employee)

The majority are men; in the beginning they are trying to flirt. For
instance, maybe you can simply write in those hours, are you
married? You tell them straight away no, we cant make deals, if
you have any problems due to the regular employment or for some
other reason, submit an application and the forced labour will be
postponed for a month. Then there is a friend sitting next to him
who comes just for company. And then he acts like a solicitor
Really? Previously it was possible to make deals. I tell that nothing
can be agreed on because it is my job to make you to complete your
work. (SPS employee)

A need for such skills and regular contact with offenders, however, cause
tension that together with other circumstances considered in detailed in
the next section reduce the employees sense of security and satisfaction
with work. The SPS employees admit that this job is not appropriate for
emotional people and such who have ever been victims of violence.

3.4. Efficiency of the criminal sentence forced labour
and its execution institutions

The efficiency of the type of punishment - forced labour on institutional
and organizational level is built up by the competence and mutual co-
operation of the court, State Probation Service and employers. The
courts task is to assess the severity of an offence and impose the most
appropriate type of punishment on the accused. The State Probation
Service upon a decision of the court organizes the forced labour for the
convict and carries out its supervision. Whereas, the employer is involved
in organizing the forced labour upon the SPSs request as a result the
convicts are provided with work required for the sentence execution. The
section will consider an opinion of all three mentioned groups on the
efficiency and obstacles of the forced labour sentence that at the moment
are holding back realization of the socially favourable effect of the
punishment (punishing and refraining from recidivism of offence).

3.4.1. Influence of courts on the efficiency of the forced labour
sentence

96
The main function of the court is to impose a sentence on a person who is
proved guilty. Further execution of the sentence and supervision of the
convict do not concern it directly. Considering the efficiency of the court,
two issues count. The first issue: whether there is a sufficient and flexible
enough range of legal regulations at the courts disposal to impose on the
defendant the most appropriate type of punishment corresponding to the
situation and offence. The second issue: whether the sentence imposed
educates, that is, motivates the convict to think over the offence. The last
setting acquires a particular meaning in the courts work because judges
often try also such persons who come from socially unfavourable
environment and who after serving the sentence often commit new
crimes.

The efficiency of the type of punishment mainly depends on the
defendants personality, social status, education and environment he has
grown up in. Although the forced labour is generally evaluated as a
positive type of punishment that imposes the convict a real punishment
work instead of a conditional sentence or penalty fee, this type of
punishment, however, is not equally appropriate for all convicts.

The greatest impact on the efficiency of the forced labour is made by the
operation of penal execution body work of the State Probation Service
staff. Before establishment of the SPS local municipalities and police were
responsible for supervision of convicts under sentencing of the forced
labour. At that time due to the low operational capacity of the police and
municipality a part of convicts pretty often evaded the forced labour and
due to the limit were released from serving the sentence. Therefore before
the establishment of the SPS efficiency of the forced labour according to
the judges opinion was comparatively low. The situation improved when
the SPS took over from the police and municipalities functions of
organizing work and supervision of convicts, and the judges trust in the
forced labour as a type of punishment has increased.

If the convict is being tried for committing less serious criminal offences,
most often the judges impose a conditional sentence, penalty fee, forced
labour or custodial arrest. The most efficient type of punishment among
all above mentioned, to judges mind, is the forced labour, whereas, a
custodial arrest is applied only as an emergency measure in cases the
other types of punishment have not yielded the expected result. The main
reasons why judges consider the forced labour as an efficient punishment
are:
The forced labour punishes without a real deprivation of liberty
(certainly except cases when the convict evades serving the
sentence) and a person serves the sentence by doing a physical
work. The forced labour is possible to be applied to a wide target
group (in particular to low-income persons who are not able to pay a
penalty fee).
97
The forced labour is an educating and preventive punishment if,
for instance, the convict who has a permanent employment, is
imposed 140 hours and the convict plans to work eight hours a day,
then this person shall allocate to the forced labour around 18 hours
from his holidays. Assuming that the convict works one day a week,
the time of the forced labour execution amounts to four and a half
months. The person is not isolated of the family and society during
serving the sentence but the forced labour execution restricts the
possibilities of spending free time and often forced labour is being
performed at time when the convicts friends and family attends
different entertainment and leisure events. The forced labour is not
only a physical work for the convict but also a psychological
experience facing the public and employers condemnation.
The forced labour is done for public benefit forced labour is used in
maintaining the municipal territories and it partly solves the
problems of lacking labour force in places where low-qualified labour
force is required.

One of the most essential pitfalls of the forced labour is a fact that the
Criminal Law does not provide for applying additional sentences to the
forced labour. In order to increase the efficiency of community-based
punishments and strengthen their preventive (refraining from future
violations) effect it is necessary to combine the punishment with social
correction measures. Such measures are particularly important in cases
the youth and persons with alcohol and drug abuse are punished.

The efficiency of the forced labour sentence is eliminated not only by
situation when the forced labour is imposed on a person who does not
understand the point of the punishment and is trying to evade the forced
labour execution but also by such court decisions when too severe
punishment is imposed in a situation when alternative types of a criminal
sentence might have been chosen.

Yes, there is often disproportion in those types of punishment; we
also had one guy who had been just released from a prison and he
stole a mobile phone in a train, he is 16, and the judge sentenced
him to 8 years imprisonment. At that moment we thought that it
was a very big incommensurability. But they are looking from that
perspective whether he has been sentenced several times; then
there is no choice. (SPS employee)

The data show that it is necessary to reassess the regulations of the
Criminal Law related to punishing for less severe criminal offences even
taking into account the persons previous criminal records. A greater
gradation of penal severity for repeated violations shall be possibly
envisaged or combined sentences provided for that partly allow serving
the sentence in the community and partly intend imprisonment.

98
3.4.2. Efficiency of the forced labour sentence for different groups
of convicts

In general judges point out that convicts under sentencing of the forced
labour are seldom tried for offences of a similar nature or get imprisoned
for evading of serving the sentence. It means that the forced labour might
be considered as quite efficient type of punishment. The majority of
employers are of a similar opinion stating that one and the same person
has not got to them to serve the forced labour. However, as it was noted
in previous sections, exactly the State Probation Service employees face
most often the problematic groups of convicts which fail to execute the
forced labour and which, perhaps, this punishment is not appropriate for.
This section will consider only those situations when the forced labour is
not an efficient type of punishment.

The groups of convicts (social risk groups) that evade serving the
sentence, face substance abuse problems, are disabled or are repeatedly
tried for a similar offence, are:
Youth of age under 18 the main problem is the low sense of
responsibility for work and a lack of respect towards the executive
and judicial institutions.
People suffering from alcohol abuse often people are tried
repeatedly for one and the same violation, such as drinkdriving. In
general it may be considered that the forced labour as a type of
punishment is partly inefficient for these people.
People suffering from drug abuse the forced labour as a type of
punishment is most inefficient that is connected with those persons
loss of work capacity and degradation of personality that causes an
overall indifference towards life.
Persons without a definite place of residence (homeless) they
commit criminal offences mainly for social motives (lack of home,
approaching winter). For example, the judges state an assumption
that the goal of the homeless is to get to prison where they can get
a regular meal, medical care and sleep in warm premises. Taking
into account these circumstances the forced labour is inefficient
punishment because it may not prevent the motives of committing a
crime.
Disabled persons the Criminal Law does not provide for imposing
the forced labour on disabled persons.
Representatives of certain professions a part of judges avoid
imposing forced labour on representatives of particular professions,
for instance, musicians, surgeons because the forced labour may
harm these specialists basic employment. Such practice shows
homogeneity of the forced labour and its limited possibilities of
application to certain community groups or professions. As a result
the representatives of the above mentioned groups most often get a
99
milder punishment than other convicts sentenced for offences of a
similar nature.

Assessing the forced labour risk groups, judges are most critical about
imposing the forced labour on persons without a definite place of
residence and drug-addicts. In order to solve the problem of persons
without a definite place of residence the municipalities shall participate
more actively in developing the social infrastructure. A more complicate
situation arises in case of drug-addicts. A part of judges support an
opinion that the only type of punishment for this group of people would be
compulsory treatment that other judges consider as possible to assess.

A more perspective risk group in which it might be possible to increase the
efficiency of the forced labour is under-aged, persons suffering from
alcohol abuse, disabled persons and representative of specific professions.
Within this study an attention will be paid to raising efficiency of the
forced labour for the youth and people suffering from alcohol abuse.

Several judges admitted in interviews that trying the youth they are
experiencing an increased sense of responsibility. The judges consider
that the young person having not reached the age of 18 is still developing
as a member of the society. The young people are not always capable of
evaluating during the hearing seriousness and consequences of the crime
that turn up if they evade the imposed forced labour. The judges have
observed that one of factors diminishing the efficiency of the forced labour
in cases of youth is the regulation of the Criminal Law that does not
provide for applying additional sentence to the forced labour in case of
youth it might be behaviour correction activities. The other reason is a
custodial arrest applied to minors evading the forced labour that may
leave a negative and even irreversible effect on youths ability to integrate
in the society.

It was mentioned above that at the moment the State Probation Service
offers four behaviour correction programs that are all applicable to youth.
In order for the correction programmes to achieve the maximum effect it
would be advisable to involve in behaviour correction activities not only
the youngster but also his family. Causes of many violations of law and
other offences related to the youngsters antisocial behaviour should be
looked for in his family, its communication culture and experience.

Involvement of the family in the correction program is separate risk
factors. First of all, a part of the youth comes from incomplete families,
and quite often the only breadwinner is forced to work at several places or
work overtime at the primary employment to support the family as a
result it would be complicated for the breadwinner to participate in the
correction program. Second, if the parents of the young person are
alcohol addicts the correction program may turn out inefficient and in such
100
cases, perhaps, it would be more advisable to involve the Orphans Court,
too.

Much complicated situation turns out in cases the youngster is sent to a
juvenile correctional institution for evasion of the forced labour. Although
sending the young person to a juvenile correctional institution is the
utmost penal measure, its efficiency and positive impact on the
personality, however, is questioned by judges. The youngster under age
of 18 is being sent to the juvenile correctional institution for a proportional
period of time set forth in the Criminal Law for non-completed number of
the forced labour hours: 2 non-completed hours equal 1 day
imprisonment. Taking into account the status of the juvenile correctional
institution and its negative reputation (mainly violence among wards), it is
very unlikely that the youngster will become a full-fledged society member
after serving the sentence.

Evading the forced labour execution the maximum time of a custodial
arrest may reach even five months (140 days) that is a comparatively
long period of time that causes judges' anxiety and doubt about the
positive effect of arrest. To make the convict take a prison as a real
punishment, imprisonment shall preferably be no longer than 1 month
being in a prison the convict must not forget what he is giving up by being
imprisoned. Staying in a prison more than a month, the convict starts
adapting to a new environment and instead of perceiving it a punishment
it becomes a daily routine of life.

Taking into account the above stated, avoiding, however, suggesting
restructuring of juvenile correctional institutions, it is advisable to develop
a system of appeal for youth whose time of arrest exceeds one month.
The youngster staying in a juvenile correctional institution on ones own
initiative in a form of application or discussion with the State Probation
Service staff and administration of educational institution shall ask to
reconsider his stay in the juvenile correctional institution. A decision of
replacing the arrest with another type of punishment - forced labour in
this case (but not releasing from the sentence) will be made in a collegiate
meeting evaluating the change of the youngsters behaviour and attitude.
Although a part of judges point out that sometimes a custodial arrest is
the only way out, taking into account, however, a circumstance that the
existing juvenile institutions are more person-degrading than educating,
the youngster shall be left the last chance to change.

A part of the convicts under sentencing of the forced labour have been put
on trial for a repeated drinkdriving. It raises a question whether those
people suffer from alcohol abuse or it is a persons irresponsible action. If
a person is an alcohol addict it is very unlikely that any of the imposed
sentences would be efficient. If the offence has been committed as a
result of irresponsible action it is most likely that the forced labour would
be rather appropriate type of punishment. It was stated before that the
101
forced labour is most efficient in situations when the convict cares about
his free time, family and social status. Efficiency of the forced labour
declines when other priorities replace these values if a person suffers
from alcohol abuse the first priority will be given to the use of alcohol.

The forced labour only punishes persons suffering from alcohol abuse but
it may not refrain them from future violations instead of limiting the
convict's desire for alcohol, the sentence restricts his possibilities of
spending free time that takes a lower priority in the convicts system of
values. Although the convict is punished (sentenced to the forced labour),
he is still dangerous to the society because his desire for alcohol remains
also after serving the sentence and it may provoke a recidivism of crime.
Unlike youth, persons punished for drinkdriving are comparatively seldom
evading the forced labour. Regardless of that their attitude towards work
is pretty often negligent, they are used to cause disagreements, be late
for work (mainly because due to use of alcohol it is difficult to observe the
schedule of work execution) as a result the SPS employees spend a lot of
time and work controlling the course of serving sentence of these people.

The efficiency of the forced labour for convicts suffering from alcohol
abuse is encumbered by the following circumstances:
it is difficult for the judges to determine and prove the defendants
alcohol addiction the only possibility is to ask for a reference
whether the person is registered in the respective Narcology
Service; if the person is not registered in the narcologic institutions,
there is no basis to consider him an alcoholic;
in case the court manages to determine the convicts alcohol abuse
it has no efficient punishment that would particularly be envisaged
for resocializing alcoholics therefore most often the court sentences
to the forced labour but the problems of practical sentence
execution are solved by the SPS staff.

The judges consider that the most appropriate type of punishment for the
convict with alcohol abuse is the forced labour that punishes for the
offence with a possibility to apply a correction program that helps the
convict to become aware of his alcohol abuse problem, and, possibly,
motivates to undergo treatment (a combined sentence). If the convict
does not admit his addiction problems, then as stated by almost all
experts interviewed it is impossible to correct the persons behaviour. As
not always the court manages to determine the offenders alcohol
addiction and apply an additional sentence (here a respective behaviour
correction measure) it would be advisable to review the authorities of the
SPS and let its employees to propose additional sentence in cases when it
is observed that the convict holds back the execution of forced labour due
to problems caused by alcohol addiction.

102
3.4.3. Efficiency of the State Probation Service work and its
organization.

Efficiency of the State Probation Service work depends on (1) objective
restrictions provided for in legal regulations implementing the SPS
functions, and (2) employees motivation. At the moment the SPS
functions are: supervision of the convict, organization of the forced labour,
probation program management, implementation of co-operation with the
court, police and employees.

As the SPS is an intermediary institution that coordinates the mutual
relations of the convict and employer, supervises the forced labour
execution and reports about it to the court, it is an institution on which the
efficiency of the forced labour sentence depends to a great extent. The
materially technical equipment, employees' motivation and competence of
the SPS influence to what extent the court will trust in the forced labour
sentence and to how responsive the employer will be when employing the
convicts. It is to be noted, however, that the objective restrictions legal
regulations and convicts under sentencing of the forced labour for the
playground where SPS employees work.

The greatest SPS resources are dedicated to work with the risk group
convicts, namely, the youth, alcohol and drug addicts, and in certain
cases, persons without a definite place of residence. This work often builds
up the judges and employers opinion on the SPS, forced labour and the
efficiency of both. If the work with the risk group convicts fails, it has a
negative impact on both the judges and employers trust in the forced
labour in general.

Although at the moment the judges and employers give comparatively
high approval of the SPSs work, those good results, however, have been
achieved owing to the employees enthusiasm, desire to develop a system
of community-based sentences and prove themselves as professionals,
establishing and implementing a new state institution - the State
Probation Service. But over the time enthusiasm turns into daily routine
and insufficiently met human basic needs - a possibility to satisfy
physiological, existential, security and social needs are playing ever bigger
role. It is possible to satisfy the mentioned human needs by working in a
safe and comfortable enough working environment, getting an adequate
and fair compensation for the work done and having good recreation
possibilities that is influenced by a reasonably planned work load.

Considering the work load and conditions of the SPS employees it is to be
noted that those two factors greatly influence the evaluation of wage
adequacy the bigger the work load the lower satisfaction with the wage.
In general work load in the big cities of Latvia and regional structural units
differs. The SPS employees determine their work load depending on how
103
many probation clients they are supposed to work with simultaneously
over a definite period of time. A higher work load is observed in Riga,
lower outside Riga that depends on the number of probation clients. Yet,
a SPS employee in Riga may supervise comparatively more convicts than
it is sometimes possible in regions in Riga often the distance between
places where the forced labour performers are serving the sentence is
small, whereas in regions it may reach even 60 km. Still in general, the
number of probation clients is a significant argument assessing the
conformity of wage to the SPS employee's contribution. As a result SPS
employees in the big cities are less satisfied with the wage.

The more clients the SPS employee has, the more time is to be devoted to
work with documents of the client's case. If the number of probation
clients is smaller in regional structural units, the employee is usually
fulfilling some other duties, for instance, performs functions of a
secretary. If the SPS employee has to ensure a control of the forced
labour performer, it is most often done outside the official working hours
of the institution because basically, as showed by data considered in the
previous sections, the forced labour is performed in the evenings and at
weekends. Work with the problematic groups of clients requires more
time and energy than with those who are conscientiously following the
terms of the forced labour and co-operation with the SPS. In order to
compensate the employee overtime work and work on holidays, the SPS
has agreed, that work on holidays will be compensated by a free working
day. A large part of SPS employees are dissatisfied with the vague work
schedule due to which the private life suffers.

I go by my own car to see somewhere. Afterwards there is so big
fuss about getting those free hours that it is not worth it. You may
not go but on the other hand if he is working only at weekends, he
must be controlled sometimes. Maybe, in case I have worked that
hour on Saturday, I dont work that hour on Monday but just to
avoid filling in all those papers. (SPS employee)

Here problems in a family arise, too. Family members say how it
comes that you go to work on holiday but you are not paid for it.
There is as if a possibility to get a day off during the week but no
one counts that I have to complete that work anyway during that
free time, that free working day. .. I have a feeling that too much
[work] is being given and if you are getting too much disregarded
you are in a stress and it seems that you are not able to do anything
anymore. (SPS employee)

The SPS employees point out that requirements concerning information
that is supposed to be revealed in documents of the probation clients
case are exaggerated - detailed and sometimes also unnecessary data is
required. If the given information is necessary for electronic recording of
104
probation clients and development of archive, then this problem of storing
information should be solved already in the nearest future.

I think that there is too detailed information about the client in the
register, absolutely unnecessary. Ok, it might contain all data on
the course of sentence execution but information about the client
should not be so detailed. For instance, economic activity is one
parameter that is quickly changing, married or single... If I would
enter all information about the client and would get the entire
statistics about him, then I would definitely see its point. This work
takes a lot of time and these data are such that are changing
quickly. (SPS employee)

The majority of the SPS employees are satisfied with the work premises,
yet the materially technical equipment is sometimes insufficient. If the
number of probation clients is big (for instance in Riga) compensation of
transport costs is not ensured to a required amount as a result the control
of the forced labour performers at the work places reduces. One of
solutions of this problem in Riga would be giving cards to the SPS
employees to use the public transport services for free (for instance, like it
is for the police staff). Another solution might be purchasing ticket cards
for all SPS employees. A vital issue concerning the SPS operation is the
physical labour security both in the SPS premises and outside visiting the
probation clients' places of residence and suchlike.

This work is rather dangerous in a way. We are quite recognizable
and you can never know at what moment you meet someone and
what he may do. We are unprotected. (SPS employee)

We [had] no gas sprayer, nothing and no one knows what that
person could think of, he might take some rake, spade or something
else and really hit on the head. There was such a moment we were
afraid. (SPS employee)

About danger. I have two clients with TBC. There are many with
type C virus hepatitis, AIDS and we find it out only from the person
if he tells it. (SPS employee)

If I feel endangered, I have nowhere to escape. Call a police? The
police are also often saying wait in the order! (SPS employee)

Working capacity of people whose job is connected to a high psycho-
emotional load (stress, fear, etc.) is falling in the long-term if conditions of
relaxation appropriate to the work load are not ensured. Such situation is
also aiding staff rotation. To reduce it and increase a motivation of work
it is necessary to develop a system of employee motivation and positive
support that would lessen the officers load and eliminate staff rotation in
the long-term. It should be noted that the SPS employees have given
105
proposals for improving the work organization and security, yet they
admit at the same time that at the moment they lack feedback both on
the well-done job and decisions on accepting or rejecting proposals.

It is not easy for the Head either but it is so in the meetings that the
Head comes, says what he is to say and does not accept our
opinion, does not listen to us. (SPS employee)

It may happen that in the nearest future the SPS will feel even bigger lack
of labour force; the biggest problems will arise in Riga, less in the smaller
towns and parishes. It will cause the fall of the forced labour efficiency if
the number of vacancies in the SPS increase, the work load of existing
staff will grow, and the control of the forced labour performers will reduce
accordingly. That may reduce trust of the court and prosecutor's office in
the forced labour sentence.

To avoid that the above mentioned assumptions come true, attention
should be paid to optimization of the work load and improvement of
labour security, in particular in the big cities. It is possible to compensate
the work load by raising wages and vice versa - a sense of inadequacy of
wage to the work duties may be eliminated by employing people for
vacant positions and optimizing the work load. A problem of irregular work
hours is possible to be solved by applying an accounting system of an
unusual (for instance, aggregated) working time.

The work load of SPS employees and assessment of the resultant wage
shall be adjusted to peculiarities of work in Riga and regions. Defining
serving of how many probation clients cases corresponds to a full working
time (40 hours a week) in Riga and outside Riga, the number of clients
and the area of the territory covered shall be assessed. It means that in
Riga one SPS employee may work with relatively more clients because the
distance within Riga is shorter than in rural areas. According to
employees evaluation, it is possible to work with no more than 30 35
probation clients in a full time job. If this number is taken as a limit
exceeding which the employee is supposed to work overtime and knowing
the average number of probation clients it is possible to determine the
number of positions required and calculate the respective wage budget. If
all envisaged positions are not filled, i.e. the SPS has vacancies, funding
provided for them shall be directed to wages of employees who are
assuming extra duties, namely, are working with a bigger number of
clients than it is planned for one SPS employee. Differentiation of work
load in case the SPS employee is working with a smaller number of clients
than the above mentioned limit of 30 35 probation clients is not useful
because in such cases an employee is usually performing other functions
in the office. Another solution towards which an attitude in the state
administration institutions differs is the development of a clear system of
an extra pay for an increased work load and risk or a real possibility to get
extra paid holidays to the usual vacation.
106

3.4.4. Attitude of employers and efficiency of the forced labour

Employers attitude, view and practice of deed how the forced labour
execution is organized to a great extent depend on the efficiency of the
SPS work because exactly SPS employees hand over to employers the
knowledge on the goal of the forced labour as a punishment and the
resultant order of the sentence execution. Employers main motivation
starting co-operation with the SPS and employing the convicts is
availability of a free labour force. Although the forced labour employers
often mentioned this gain, yet they pointed out that employing the
convicts they are first assuming extra liabilities (such as a burden in a
way) and only then the benefit of an opportunity of getting works done
whose execution has no other possibilities is valued. The employer is
interested in that the forced labour performer ensures a qualitative
fulfilment of assigned tasks. Therefore one of reasons of dissatisfaction is
that the employers contribution is not always reimbursed with a
qualitative enough work of the forced labour performers. As soon as the
convict is absent, wastes time, damages equipment, and works carelessly
or shows low motivation for work in some other way, the employer loses
an interest in continuing co-operation with the SPS.

Often employers agree to co-operate with the SPS only for that they had
started employing the forced labour performers at time when the
municipalities were responsible for it or because they consider that this
obligation is envisaged in the effectual legal regulations. However, as the
analysis shows, such legal regulation is not included anywhere. Maybe
such myth of law (a legal regulation that provides for a compulsory
employment of convicts) has appeared at time when municipalities were
organizing the forced labour.

A part of employers emphasized that employing convicts at weekends and
in the evenings of the week is cumbersome. In order to ensure an
appropriate supervision of the forced labour performers the employer shall
ask some of employees to stay at work longer than it is envisaged in the
employment agreement or even come to work at weekends, i.e., to work
overtime. Compensation to ones own employee for supervision of the
forced labour performers outside regular working hours at the moment
fully depends on the employers decision, possibilities and agreement with
the subordinate that indirectly influences the efficiency of the forced
labour execution. If Latvian legal regulations provided for the possible
compensations for supervision of the forced labour performers and it were
possibly covered by the state then it would be easier for the SPS
employees to attract new employers.

107
Employers who co-operate with the SPS in the biggest cities of the
Republic are most often comparatively big enterprises who are responsible
for maintaining a big territory and where labour force is almost always
required, especially for low-qualified positions. Sometimes an employer
has established a separate structural unit that is responsible for assigning
tasks and supervision of convicts. The big employers are more satisfied
with the convicts work and their sensibility to a negative collaboration
experience is lower. The reason of it often is a pragmatic attitude towards
the labour force, understanding of its comparatively high costs in the
labour market, experience in work with a low-qualified labour force and its
possible problems as well as a good and constructive co-operation with
the SPS. Employers in regions of Latvia are more cautious, they have a
lower capacity of employing the forced labour performers. For instance, if
in the main cities of the country the municipal enterprise may
simultaneously employ up to 10 convicts and appoint one subordinate to
supervision of work, regional employers employing the convicts can offer
one to three positions on average at a time whose supervision requires
one permanent employee.

To increase the responsiveness of employers, attention shall be paid to
three aspects:
situations that an employee supervising the forced labour
performers is not reimbursed for the time spent and additional work
duties must be eliminated;
employers communication with the convicts of a risk group that
reduces employers desire to co-operate with the State Probation
Service in future shall be decreased;
professional and mutually pleasant communication between the
employer and SPS shall be developed.

108

APPENDICES

109
Appendix 1. Persons sentenced to the forced labour by the type of
a criminal offence in 1999 to 2006.

Criminal offence 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2006
Repeated Operation
of Vehicle Under
Influence of Alcohol
(Sect.262)
74
(40%)
217
(36%)
380
(37%)
418
(34%)
508
(37%)
1003
(51%)
Thefts (Par.1, 2, 3 of
Sect. 175, Sect.180)
50
(27%)
198
(33%)
377
(37%)
400
(33%)
367
(27%)
305
(16%)
Intentional
destruction of and
damage to property
(Sect. 185)
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
93
(4,8%)
Intentional
moderate/slight
bodily injury (Sect.
126, 130)
16
(9%)
20
(3%)
41
(4%)
75
(6%)
77
(6%)
73
(4%)
Evasion of serving a
sentence adjudged by
a court (Sect.312)
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
68
(3%)
Violation of provisions
regarding movement
of excisable goods
(Sect.221)
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
48
(3%)
Unauthorised
acquisition, storage
and sale of narcotic
and psychotropic
substances in a small
amount and use of
narcotic and
psychotropic
substances without a
physicians
designation
(Sect.253.2)
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
32
(2%)
Cruelty towards and
violence against a
minor (Sect.174)
n/a n/a n/a n/a
28
(2%)
32
(2%)
Avoiding of
maintenance
(Sect.170)
n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
26
(1%)
Arbitrary cutting of
trees (Sect.109)
18
(10%)
68
(11%)
79
(87%)
98
(8%)
123
(9%)
16
(1%)
Misappropriation
(Sect.179)

27
(2%)
15
(1%)
Other
25 93 143 225 174 256
TOTAL: 183 596 1020 1216 1359 1952
110
Sources: * Providus. Enforcement of the Criminal Sentence Forced Labour in the
Territory of Latvia. TM State Probation Service, 2004.

111
Appendix 2. Number of convicts sentenced to the forced labour in
2006 by Sections of the Criminal Law

Number
of
persons
Sections of the Criminal Law
1002
Section 262. Operating a vehicle under the influence of
alcoholic, narcotic, psychotropic and other intoxicating
substances
157 Section 180. Theft, fraud and misappropriation on a small scale
94
Section 175.1. Concealed or overt stealing (theft) of the
movable property of another
93 Section 185. Intentional destruction of and damage to property
68 Section 312. Evasion of serving a sentence adjudged by a court
48
Section 221. Violation of provisions regarding movement of
excisable goods
42 Section 130. Intentional slight bodily injury
40
Section 175.3. Theft if it has been committed by entering a
residential unit or other premises, or if it has been committed
from a storage facility, system connecting storage facilities, or
from a vehicle
32 Section 174. Cruelty towards and violence against a minor
32
Section 253.
2
. Unauthorised acquisition, storage and sale of
narcotic and psychotropic substances in a small amount and use
of narcotic and psychotropic substances without a physicians
designation
31 Section 126. Intentional moderate bodily injury
26 Section 170. Avoiding of maintenance
24
Section 314. Acquisition and sale of property obtained by way of
crime
23
Section 214. Failing to submit an application for insolvency and
submission of a false application
21 Section 231. Hooliganism
20
Section 260. Violation of traffic provisions and provisions
regarding vehicle operation
16 Section 109. Arbitrary cutting and damaging trees
15 Section 179. Misappropriation
14
Section 175.2. Theft if commission thereof is repeated, or is
committed by a group of persons pursuant to prior agreement
14
Section 275. Forgery of a document, seal or stamp and use or
sale of a forged document, seal or stamp
14 Section 315. Failing to inform of crimes
13 Section 176. Robbery
12
Section 300. Deliberately false testimony, opinion, translation
and explanation
11 Section 231.
1
. Deliberately false report regarding the placing or
112
locating of explosive, poisonous, radioactive or bacteriological
substances or materials or explosive devices
9 Section 177. Fraud
9 Section 186. Negligent destruction of and damage to property

Table continued
Number
of
persons
Sections of the Criminal Law
6
Section 218. Evasion of taxes and payments imposed together
therewith
5
Section 207. Entrepreneurial activities without registration or a
permit (licence)
4 Section 190. Smuggling
4
Section 215. Violation of provisions regarding insolvency
proceedings
3 Section 131. Negligent bodily injury
3
Section 210. Fraudulent obtaining and use of credit and other
loans
3 Section 230. Cruel treatment of animals
3 Section 230.1. Violation of regulations of keeping of animals
2 Section 112. Unlawful hunting
2
Section 149. Unlawful acts with objects of copyright and
neighbouring rights
2 Section 205. Violation of trading provisions
2 Section 228. Desecration of graves and corpses
2
Section 264. Allowing the operation of a vehicle by a person
under the influence of alcoholic, narcotic, psychotropic and
other intoxicating substances
2
Section 265. Unlawful manufacture, sale, issuing, forgery,
destruction and theft of vehicle registration documents or
vehicle identification number marks and registration number
plates of a vehicle
2 Section 279. Arbitrary conduct
2 Section 319. Failure to act by a State Official
25
Other Sections of the Criminal Law (no more than 1 convict for
each Section)
Source: Data of the Courts Statistics Division of the Court Work Organization Department
of the Court Administration.

113
Appendix 3. The convicted persons by the type of the basic
sentence in 2000 to 2006

2000* 2001* 2002* 2003* 2004** 2005** 2006**
% % % % % % %
deprivation
of liberty 26,1 25,9 28,3 26,9 25,5 23,4 27,0
conditionally
sentenced 56,6 54,9 53,3 53,8 53,5 53,6 45,4
penalty fee 10,0 8,1 5,8 6,6 6,4 6,4 7,3
forced
labour 4,7 8,1 9,7 9,9 11,7 15,4 19,5
custodial
arrest 0,02 0,04 0,1 0,04 0,03 0,1 0,1
released
persons 2,6 3,1 2,8 2,7 3,0 1,2 0,7
TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Sources: *Zahars V. The Convicted A Nation in the Nation. Problems of Criminal
Penalty Execution, Riga, Zvaigzne ABC, 2005.

2007 - Forced Labour

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THE ROLE OF FORCED LABOUR

IN ELIMINATING SOCIAL EXCLUSION

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