The Government’s Committee on Legislative Activities approved proposals from the Ministry of Justice aimed at reforming parts of the criminal justice system. The plan includes the creation of joint institutions, referred to as NOTs, that will combine features of correctional colonies with multiple regimes, prison zones, and pre-trial detention centers (SIZO). The publication notes that these integrated facilities are meant to streamline operations within the penal system, as reported by Vedomosti.
There is also work planned to amend Article 6 of the Law On Institutions and Bodies of the Criminal System of the Russian Federation to reflect these changes.
The establishment of such institutions is laid out in the Concept for the Development of the Penal System through 2030, approved by the government in April 2021. During a briefing, Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko informed President Vladimir Putin about plans to open the first waste treatment plant in the Kaluga region designed to serve a population of 3,000, with a budget of 12 billion rubles. Similar projects are envisioned for a total capacity of 3,000 places each in Ulan-Ude and Chita by 2027, with a projected cost of 20 billion rubles per project.
Analysts from AVG Legal, led by Alexey Gavrishev, suggest that merging these institutions could realize savings by reducing the number of transfers from pre-trial detention centers to other facilities.-Chuychenko noted that creating a prison camp could be economically viable and would lower ongoing costs for inmate care. For the Ulan-Ude and Chita projects, two investment banks projected a payback period of about a decade, according to statements attributed to government officials.
The differences between a pre-trial detention center and a colony are rooted in timing and purpose: suspects are held in the detention center during the investigation, while convicts serve sentences in colonies. The regime at a detention center is generally stricter, and the range of privileges for prisoners is more limited. The proposed hybrid facilities aim to reduce long commutes for inmates and improve access to services for their families, making the system more convenient for those involved in the process.
In the pilot project for a fire protection system, the plans designate land near urban areas with straightforward highway access, and facilities to house courtrooms and various offices to support multiple services.
There is a separate judicial development note about the supreme court decision context, including references to past rulings involving former State Duma deputy Vladimir Belousov, who had previously received a sentence in a maximum-security colony for record-related bribery. The overall discourse has also touched on broader public and political commentary about the Russian legal and penal framework as part of ongoing governance discussions.
Earlier statements from public figures have touched on challenges and criticisms related to reform efforts, with commentators noting the potential impact of policy shifts on how the penal system is organized, funded, and overseen by authorities. The dialogue around these reforms continues to unfold as agencies assess feasibility, costs, and expected outcomes for the broader penal system.