GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER X
SUSPENSION OF A SENTENCE AND RELEASE FROM A PENALTY

Article 77. Release from a Custodial Sentence on Parole and Replacement of the Undischarged Term of the Custodial Sentence with a More Lenient Penalty

1. A court may release a person serving a custodial sentence on parole or substitute the undischarged term of the custodial sentence with a more lenient penalty (with the exception of a fine), where this person :

1) has served :
a) at least one half of the imposed sentence for a negligent or minor or less serious premeditated crime ; or
b) at least two thirds of the imposed sentence for a serious crime ; or
b) at least three fourths of the imposed sentence for a grave crime, or where the person is a repeat offender ; or
d) at least one third of the imposed sentence for a negligent or minor or less serious premeditated crime committed by a pregnant woman, also a single father (mother) raising a child under the age of seven years or two or more minor children, where his (her) parental powers have not been restricted by a court in respect of these children ;

2) has fully compensated for the property damage incurred by a crime or has compensated for or eliminated a part thereof and has undertaken to fully compensate for or eliminate it over the undischarged term of the sentence ;
3) proved by his conduct and work during the period of serving the custodial sentence that he may be released on parole or his custodial sentence may be replaced with a more lenient penalty.

2. When releasing a person on parole, a court may impose one or more mandatory injunctions provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 75 of this Code. The court shall also lay down a time limit within which the convicted person must comply with the imposed mandatory injunctions. This period may not exceed the undischarged term of the sentence.

3. Release on parole and replacement of the undischarged term of the custodial sentence with a more lenient penalty shall not apply to :

1) a dangerous repeat offender ;
2) a person sentenced to life imprisonment ;
3) a person who had already been released on parole and committed a new premeditated crime during the undischarged term of the sentence.

4. Where a person released on parole from a custodial sentence has complied with the mandatory injunctions imposed by a court and had not committed the violations provided for in paragraph 5 of this Article until the expiry of the term of the custodial sentence, he shall be considered to have served the sentence.

5. Where a person released on parole from a custodial sentence fails, without valid reasons, to comply with the mandatory injunctions imposed by a court or violates public order, abuses alcohol or commits other offences for which administrative penalties or disciplinary sanctions have been imposed upon him at least twice, the court shall, on the recommendation of the institution supervising the conduct of the convicted person, warn the convicted person that release on parole from the custodial sentence may be revoked. Where, having been warned, the convicted person further fails to comply with the mandatory injunctions imposed by the court or commits offences, the court shall, on the recommendation of the institution supervising the conduct of the convicted person, rule on the revocation of release on parole from the custodial sentence and serving of the undischarged term of the sentence.

6. Where a person released on parole from a custodial sentence or a person in respect of whom a custodial sentence has been replaced with a more lenient penalty commits a new criminal act during the undischarged term of the sentence, a court shall impose a penalty upon him according to the rules provided for in Article 64 of this Code.