PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST DANGEROUS OFFENDERS IN LEGISLATIONS UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM

Abstract

Panic and repressive public reaction to the murder and sexual crimes committed against children and detection networks of pedophiles are the reasons why at the end of the twentieth century in the Anglo-Saxon legal system utilized indeterminate prison sentence and compulsory psychiatric treatment to prevent repeated the crime of the prisoners who are released from prison. Following the example of American law, preventive supervision or preventive detention have been introduced in other English-speaking countries, but also in continental legal system. Author comparing US legislation (federal, states Washington and Florida) and the United Kingdom legislation to show the differences in the approach to the protection of society from dangerous offenders. The US has used civil law model of forced psychiatric hospitalization (civil commitment), but now more often measures into criminal justice system (preventive detention or preventive supervision). Under the influence of the US similar measures were introduced in the UK, but UK legislations favors imprisonment (lifelong or extended) to protect the public from high risk of offender (England and Wales) and lifetime restrictions (in Scotland). However, these concepts are now abandoned (England) or reviewed (Scotland) due to lack of efficacy and risk of violations of human rights of prisoners.