Shekhovtseva Tatiana Mikhailovna

PhD in Philology, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages and Professional Communication Department,

Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod, Russia

E-mail:[e-mail]

The article deals with the specifics of implementation of the right to pension provision for persons sentenced to imprisonment. The author focuses on the analysis of the current legislation in the field of criminal law and social security law in the Russian Federation. The stated provisions are illustrated with case files from judicial practice.

Keywords: convicts, imprisonment, convicts’ rights, retirement system, pension provision system, pension insurance system, monthly deductions

Today a person who is found guilty of committing a crime is not deprived of the legal right to pension provision like any other law-abiding citizen [2].

The Federal law "On insurance pensions" establishes the right of convicts to receive an old-age pension: for women – at the age of 60, for men – at the age of 65, if they have at least 15 years of work experience [5].

It is important to mention that the retirement system of the Russian Federation goes back to 1918, but at that time a convict’s term of work in prison was not considered to be the length of service at the legislative level.

Some changes took place in 1997 with the adoption of the current Criminal Executive code of the Russian Federation, which preserved this norm and consolidated it in the article 98 [Yablokova 2013].

Nowadays, upon reaching the specified age, the convict has the right to apply to the authorities of the correctional facility, which will draw up the necessary documents and send them to the territorial branch of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.

The Federal law of April 1, 1996 "On individual registration in the compulsory pension insurance system" states that organizations which employ convicted persons get the status of "policyholders" [Barbosynova, Ruzaeva 2018]. One of their main duties is to gather information about the time periods during which persons sentenced to imprisonment are engaged in work.

Besides, in this area of legal relations there are specific Rules used for:

· payment of different types of pensions

· checking documents required for the payment

· calculating pension amounts

· finding out overpaid sums of money

These Rules were approved on November 17, 2014 by order of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.

It is important to mention that monthly deductions from the pensions of convicts are made to reimburse, for example, the costs of food, utilities and products for personal use.

The Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation contains a provision that the burden of expenses incurred by convicted persons for their maintenance does not violate their rights and freedoms. This position is justified by the fact that the retirement system was created to compensate for previously stable but lost income [3].

It is necessary to focus on the fact that despite the provisions mentioned above judicial practice can present a large number of cases of this category of persons applying to the courts with the requirement to recognize such detentions as illegal ones.

It is possible to illustrate it by a case heard in 2011 in Zavolzhsky district court. It was a civil case on the claim of the citizen R.F. Nizamov to the Federal state facility "Correctional colony N 9 of the Department of the Federal penitentiary service for the Ulyanovsk region".

In his lawsuit the citizen demanded to invalidate the actions of the institution to retain 75% funds in order to reimburse the cost of meals and utilities. He also claimed to get back unpaid part of pension and moral damages. In support of his suit, the plaintiff indicated that he was disabled, and had no obligation to pay alimony under the writ of execution.

During the trial, the court examined the submitted evidence (certificates of deductions and accrued amounts to the personal account of the convict, settlement documents and reports on R.F. Nizamov’s statement concerning the appropriate dietary food).

According to these documents, the retention took place for the purposes established by the Criminal Executive law. The plaintiff's reference to article 107 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is a misinterpretation of the norm, since this article regulates cases when deductions from the account of a convicted person are made in favor of claimants. However, this type of retain does not exclude the deductions for the maintenance of the convict, who has no obligations under the writ of execution.

The court found out that the retain was not illegal or unjustified. The plaintiff's claim was rejected [4].

At the same time, it is impossible not to mention the problematic issues that arise in this area. For example, a large number of convicts do not have money in their individual accounts, since the majority of them are not interested in work. This is probably a consequence of the legally established "right to work", and not the “obligation to work” [Barbosynova, Ruzaeva 2018].

Summing up, it should be noted that the proclamation and further implementation of the right of a convicted person to get pension provision is a form of the policy of the Russian Federation as a social state, which is responsible for the development of equal opportunities for every citizen.

The Russian Federation, being a democratic and legal state, guarantees protection to all categories of citizens in cases established by legislative acts. This guarantee is a result of the ratification of many international legal instruments, including the International Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights of 1996. This document enables every person from the participating countries to get pension provisions.

Despite the fact that a person commits an illegal act, it is possible to get not only an insurance pension but also a social one. It might ensure a decent life and full adaptation of the convicted person after release from prison.

However, the application of the principle of humanism does not eliminate the current problems in the mentioned area of legal relations.

References

1. Barbosynova, Yu.B., Ruzaeva, E.M. (2018). Pensii osuzhdennyh // Nauchnyj forum: innovacionnaya nauka: sbornik statej po materialam XIII mezhdunarodnaoj nauchno-prakticheskoj konferencii [Pensions for convicted defendants// Proceedings of International XIII conference “Scientific forum: innovative science” ]. – no. 4 (13). – Moscow: "MCNO". – 120 p. (In Russian)

2. Konstituciya Rossijskoj Federacii (prinyata vsenarodnym golosovaniem 12.12.1993). (V redakcii zakonov Rossijskoj Federacii ot 30.12.2008 №6-FKZ, ot 30.12.2008 №7-FKZ, ot 05.02.2014 №2-FKZ, ot 21.07.2014 №11-FKZ) [The Constitution of the Russian Federation (adopted by vote 12.12.1993) (as amended laws of the Russian Federation: 30.12.2008 no. 6-FKZ, 30.12.2008 no. 7-FKZ, 05.02.2014 no. 2-FKZ, 21.07.2014 no. 11-FKZ)]. (In Russian)

3. Opredelenie Konstitucionnogo Suda Rossijskoj Federacii ot 17 iyunya 2008 goda N 552-O-P "Po zhalobe grazhdanina Alekseya Vital'evicha Rozenkova na narushenie ego konstitucionnyh prav polozheniyami statej 99 i 107 Ugolovno-ispolnitel'nogo kodeksa Rossijskoj Federacii i statej 208 i 217 Nalogovogo kodeksa Rossijskoj Federacii" [The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation no 552-O-P, 17 June 2008 "On the complaint of the citizen Alexey Vitalievich Rozenkov on the violation of his constitutional rights by the provisions of articles 99 and 107 of the Criminal Executive code of the Russian Federation and articles 208 and 217 of the Tax code of the Russian Federation"]. (In Russian)

4. Reshenie Zavolzhskogo rajonnogo suda goroda Ul'yanovska (Ul'yanovskaya oblast') №2-1053/2011 ot 25 maya 2011 goda po delu №2-1053/2011 [Decision of the Zavolzhsky district court of the city of Ulyanovsk (Ulyanovsk region) no. 2­­-1053/2011, 25 May 2011, case no. 2-1053 /2011]. (In Russian)

5. Sobranie zakonodatel'stva RF №52 (gl.I), St. 6989 (2013). Federal'nyj zakon ot 28 dekabrya 2013 goda №400-FZ "O strahovyh pensiyah" (v red. ot 07.03.2018) [Collection of Legislation of the Russian Federation №52 (Ch. I) art. 6989 (2013). Federal Law, 28 December 2013, no. 400-FZ "On Insurance Pensions" (amended: 07.03.2018)]. (In Russian)

6. Yablokova, O.B. (2013). Pensionnoe obespechenie osuzhdennyh // Aktual'nye voprosy trudovogo prava i prava social'nogo obespecheniya,
materialy Internet-konferencii Omskoj yuridicheskoj akademii [Pension provision for convicts // Proceedings of the Internet conference of
Omsk Law Academy “Actual issues of labor law and social security
law” ], Omsk. – Pp. 50-57. (In Russian)