Forced labor: unused reserves

Background. Forced labor is one of the most discussed and at the same time controversial of the punishments used in Russia. If in the first years after the beginning of the application of this punishment, the main issue discussed was the problem of increasing the network of correctional centers and the number of convicts, then as forced labor acquired more and more experience in its application, the focus of attention consistently shifted to-ward improving the regulation of the legal status of convicts. Recently, in connection with the gradual exhaustion of extensive possibilities for filling correctional centers with con-victs, researchers have increasingly become attracted to the search for other opportunities to increase the potential for using the labor of convicts serving forced labor. Following the decisions of the Government of the Russian Federation on expanding employment opportunities for disabled people, this issue is also becoming relevant for the Russian penal system. The goal of the work is to find new opportunities to fill correctional centers with potential workers. Materials and methods. Scientific works on the problem under study, materials from legislative practice, as well as the results of the author’s research were used. The methodological basis was the general dialectical method of cognition. Results. During the study, a proposal was put forward regarding the possibility of sending convicts who are disabled persons of the second group to correctional centers. Conclusions. The authors, relying on an analysis of widely used statistical data on the economic situation both in the country as a whole and in the employment of convicts in particular, propose amendments to Article 53.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in particular, the removal from Part 7 of this article of the restriction on the assignment of forced labor to disabled persons of group 2.