Summary

As of 1 May 1998, the Probation Supervision Act will enter into force providing for the exercise of supervision over convicts who have been given a conditional sentence or released on parole, and for the promotion of their social adaptation. The Act also prescribes a probation supervision authority and the principles of work in probation supervision departments established at courts. The development of the probation system is carried out within the framework of the criminal law reform. One of the objectives of the reform is to give up the inflexible system of sanctions characteristic of Soviet criminal law and to develop a flexible alternative system for imprisonment. Thus, the implementation of a probation system in the Republic of Estonia may be regarded as an important step forward in the process of liberalisation of criminal law.