Imprisonment and organization of prison labor in Scandinavian states

The development of society and dominant ideas about humanism and human rights require actualization of the legal regulation of various areas of social relations. It also involves the issues of criminal punishment, process and conditions of its execution, and the prison labor of convicts. This article is devoted to the analysis of the Northern Europe states’ experience of penal systems organization and especially conditions of the imprisoned persons’ labor. The issues of convicts’ recruitment goals, mandatory nature of their labor and alternative types of activities, grounds and procedure for remuneration of the work they perform are in the focus. In addition to the “traditional” Scandinavian states (Sweden, Denmark, and Norway), attention is also paid to the experience of Finland, which is close to the above states in many ways. The analysis of foreign practices is carried out in the context of problems existing in the penitentiary system of the Russian Federation. The results and formulated conclusions may be useful for subsequent scientific research, as well as revising Russian legislation and law enforcement practice connected with prison sentences execution and labor administering.