Tímarit lögfræðinga


Tímarit lögfræðinga - 01.10.1989, Side 16

Tímarit lögfræðinga - 01.10.1989, Side 16
but even worse for indeterminate than for determinate prison sen- tences. All these defects have induced many countries to return to imprisonment of firm duration. Iceland, like the majority of European countries, has never introduced the indeterminate imprisonment sen- tence. d) There has been a complete change in the evaluation of short- term imprisonment. At the end of the last century this was the target of vehement criticism advanced by the German reformer Franz v. Liszt. He launched the famous appeal for a “crusade against short- term imprisonment”. This has been widely followed and has led to quite recent efforts of reform, including those by the Federal Repub- lic of Germany and Austria. According to predominant opinion the earlier campaign against short-term imprisonment has been fully justi- fied, because at that time detention of a few days or weeks was generally used for all cases, even for quite insignificant petty offences. It had produced many dissocializing effects, whereas a fine or an alter- native measure would have been absolutely sufficient to maintain general prevention. Today short-term imprisonment has changed its face. It is often applied in specific cases such as driving a motor-car under the influence of alcohol, economic or environmental criminality and persistent petty delinquency. In some countries the consequences of short-term detention detrimental to the prisoner’s position in society are partly neutralized by modern means of deprivation of liberty such as weekend detention, fragmented execution, night-imprisonment, work release and similar measures aiming at the preservation of the prisoner’s job and at his continued contact with life in free society. 3. Fines. — In a number of countries the fine has become the most frequent sanction applied in criminal law. The advance of the fine in criminal policy was mainly a consequence of the already mentioned wide-spread criticism of short-term imprisonment. From its very origin in the 19th century as the usual punishment for petty contraven- tions it has become more and more an influential and important means of criminal policy, both in legislation and its application. Today, in the world as a whole two different schemes exist for the legal regula- tion of the fine. a) There is first the system of calculating the fine in a lump sum. Here the total is measured out directly in an amount of money ac- cording to the importance of the offence and the personal guilt of the perpetrator, and to his financial situation and earning capacity. 158

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