Preliminary Detention

detention under guard as a measure of restraint. In the USSR, preliminary detention is permitted only with respect to an accused (defendant) or suspect. It is used only upon the order of an investigator (or person conducting an inquiry), which must be sanctioned by the procurator, upon the order of the procurator, or upon a court ruling or judgment in criminal cases where the punishment may be deprivation of freedom. It is permitted only if the grounds prescribed by law are present, such as the gravity of the act committed or the possibility of concealment or continuing criminal activity. The maximum periods of preliminary detention are established by Article 34 of the Basic Principles of Criminal Procedure of 1958.

The basic requirements of the regime in places of preliminary detention are established in the Regulations on Preliminary Detention Under Guard (USSR law of July 11, 1969, Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR, 1969, no. 29, p. 248) and republic legislation. These conditions include the isolation and surveillance of persons held in custody and separate detention for certain types of accused persons or suspects. Minors are separated from adults, and persons accused (suspected) of grave crimes are separated from others. Especially dangerous recidivists are also held separately.

When sentencing to deprivation of freedom or assigning to a disciplinary battalion, the court counts each day spent in preliminary detention as one day toward serving the sentence. If the sentence is corrective labor, exile, or banishment, each day of preliminary detention counts as three days toward serving the sentence. The procurator supervises the observance of regulations in places of confinement.