The Essence of Conditional Early Release
The popular word for this institution is a colloquialism inherited from Russian; in Georgian law it is called conditional early release and is regulated by a separate norm of the Criminal Code of Georgia. Its essence is that a convicted person is released from serving the sentence early where it is established that full service of the imposed penalty is no longer necessary for his correction. The decision is neither automatic nor a pardon — it depends on the conditions provided by law, on the fraction of the term actually served and on the conduct of the convicted person, which is why a well-built position often determines the outcome.
Who Decides on Release
The law distinguishes the deciding body according to the type of penalty. A person sentenced to community service, corrective labor, service restriction of a military servant or house arrest may be released by the court if it holds that full service of the penalty is no longer necessary for his correction. Where the sentence is imprisonment for a term, the same assessment is made — except for a convicted person held in a special-risk penitentiary facility — by the local council of the state subordinated institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, the special penitentiary service. A released person may also be fully or partially released from serving a supplementary penalty. The conduct of a conditionally released convicted person is supervised by the crime prevention, non-custodial penalty enforcement and probation bureau, and for a military servant by the leadership of the military unit.
The Required Fractions of the Served Term
Conditional early release is possible only if the convicted person has actually served the fraction defined by law: for a less grave crime, not less than one half of the term of the penalty; for a grave crime, not less than two thirds; for an especially grave crime, not less than three quarters. A stricter rule applies to persons who previously received conditional early release and had it revoked, or whose unserved part was replaced by a lighter penalty and the replaced penalty was then revoked — in such cases at least three quarters of the term must actually be served. The term of imprisonment actually served must not be less than six months. Special conversions also exist: where release follows community service, the penalty actually served in that form is counted in the required term at the rate of five hours per one day of imprisonment, and where it follows house arrest, one day of house arrest counts as one day of imprisonment.
Duties Imposed upon Release
Upon conditional early release the convicted person may be assigned the same catalogue of duties that applies during a conditional sentence, to be performed within the period of the unserved part. The court may prohibit changing the place of permanent residence without permission of the crime prevention, non-custodial penalty enforcement and probation bureau, prohibit contact with persons who may involve him in anti-social activity, prohibit visiting certain places, order material support of the family, or order a course of treatment for alcoholism, drug addiction, toxicomania or a venereal disease. A person who committed a domestic crime may additionally be assigned a mandatory training course oriented at changing violent attitudes and behavior. The court may also impose another duty that facilitates the correction of the convicted person.
Grounds for Revocation
Conditional early release is reversible. If during the unserved term the convicted person persistently evaded the performance of the imposed duty, the court may, on the proposal of the supervising bodies, revoke the release and order the serving of the unserved part of the penalty. If he committed a negligent crime, the court decides whether to revoke the release or to keep it in force. Where an intentional crime is committed, the court assigns a penalty under the relevant procedure established by the Code, and the same procedure applies to a negligent crime if the court revokes the release. The correctness of these features — especially the establishment of persistent evasion — is the central contested issue for the defense, because it is precisely here that the restoration of the unserved term usually begins.
Substitution of the Unserved Part
Conditional early release is complemented by a neighboring mechanism — substitution of the unserved part of the penalty by a lighter type of penalty. For a convicted person sentenced to imprisonment for a less grave crime, the local council may, considering his conduct during service, replace the unserved part by a lighter penalty, provided the convicted person has actually served not less than one third of the term. The same fraction is required for substitution by community service or house arrest; for a grave crime at least one half is required, for an especially grave crime not less than two thirds, and where release was previously revoked or the replaced penalty was revoked — two thirds; with such substitution the term of imprisonment actually served must not be less than three months. For life imprisonment substitution is possible only after the convicted person has actually served fifteen years and successfully completed the preparation program for release, if the court holds that continuation of serving is no longer necessary; house arrest may then be imposed for a term of not less than five and not more than ten years, and community service for the same term.
How We Help on Legal.ge
On Legal.ge the service is delivered by attorneys working on criminal and penitentiary issues. We separate the personal situation of the convicted person from the formal assessment of documents, verify the calculation of the served fractions, the facts of performance of imposed duties and the correctness of revocation grounds.
Contact us through Legal.ge — we will help prepare the application, represent the convicted person before the council and the court, and protect against an unlawful revocation.