The objective of criminal justice is to ensure security of society and protect it from unlawful encroachments. To accomplish this goal, in each country the legislator establishes certain mechanisms which prevent new offences, and measures of working with persons who have already committed a crime. The Soviet and now the modern Ukrainian law enforcement system uses a wide range of various tools; however, such a mechanism as repeat crime risk assessment is only at the initial stage of its introduction into the Ukrainian legal system. The experience of the leading countries worldwide and international organizations shows that the practice of implementing the risk assessment tool is being systematically disseminated. The growing popularity of risk assessment is a response to society’s demands for security which can be properly ensured through sciencesupported methods and policies (evidence-based policies).

The purpose of the article is to highlight the process of implementing the use of the risk assessment institute and further prospects of expanding the scope for the use of risk assessment in Ukraine.

The development of the national criminal executive law science facilitates an increasing interest to the advanced world approaches intended for resolving the issues of excessive  discretion which is exercised by staff of penal and correctional bodies and institutions when they make decisions affecting the legal status of convicts. Besides, there is an urgent need for scientifically proven approaches to work with convicts and for tools which can be efficiently measured through empirical research and which have already been tested in the advanced countries. The tool for assessing the criminal offense risk possesses all the characteristics described above, therefore, it is possible to assert that the practice of using this tool will only expand in the future.

Separate risk and need assessment elements started to be developed and implemented in the operation of penal and correctional bodies as long ago as in 2000, taking actually more than 15 years. This process was accompanied by numerous projects within the framework of which different risk assessment options were developed, tested and validated. The actual outcome of this process was formalized in the Law of Ukraine “On Probation” adopted in 2015, in which this tool appears among the pre-trial report elements and in terms of social and educational work with convicts. However, the process of implementing risk assessment in Ukraine is still underway, and in the registered draft laws currently considered by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine risk assessment is becoming increasingly widespread, in particular, in draft law No. 7337 “On the Penitentiary System”.

Bibliography

Authored books

1. Avtukhov K ta Chovhan V ta Yakovets I, Otsinka ryzykiv i suchasna kryminalna yustytsiia [Risk Assessment and Modern Criminal Justice] (2019) (in Ukrainian).

Edited books

2. Prokopenko N (zah red), Humanizatsiia kryminalnoho sudochynstva shliakhom rozvytku elementiv sluzhby probatsii ta realizatsii prohram prymyrennia poterpilykh ta pravoporushnykiv. Metodychni materialy [Humanization of Criminal Court Procedure Through the Development of Probation Service Elements and the Implementation of Reconciliation Programs for Victims and Offenders. Methodological Materials] (2007) (in Ukrainian).

Websites

3. ‘Metodychni rekomendatsii shchodo poriadku provedennia otsinky ryzykiv skoiennia povtornykh pravoporushen i vyznachennia potreb ditei v konflikti iz zakonom’ [‘Methodological Recommendations on the Procedure for Assessing the Risks of Repeat Offences and Determining the Needs of Children in Conflict with Law’] (Derzhavna kryminalno-vykonavcha sluzhba Ukrainy) <https://kvs.gov.ua/zmi/MetodRekomendOc inkaRyzykiv24072014.pdf> (accessed: 01.06.2019) (in Ukrainian).

4. ‘Predstavnyky VKKSU provely zustrich iz misiieiu z otsinky dopomohy YeS u realizatsii reform u sferi yustytsii’ [‘Representatives of the High Judicial Qualifications Commission of Ukraine Met with the Mission for Evaluation of EU Support to Reforms of Justice’] (Sudova vlada Ukrainy, 29 sichnia 2018) <https://court.gov.ua/archive/422590/> (accessed: 01.06.2019) (in Ukrainian).

5. ‘Proekt “Pidtrymka v’iaznychnoi reformy v Ukraini”’ (Ofis Rady Yevropy v Ukraini) [‘Project “Support for Prison Reform in Ukraine” ’] <http://www.coe.kiev.ua/projects/ spru.html> (accessed: 01.06.2019) (in Ukrainian).

6. ‘Zaversheno rozrobku proektu otsinky ryzykiv vchynennia povtornoho kryminalnoho pravoporushennia’ [‘Development of the Repeat Crime Risk Assessment Project Completed’] (Derzhavna kryminalno-vykonavcha sluzhba Ukrainy, 15.04.2016) <https:// www.kvs.gov.ua/peniten/control/ode/en/control/ode/uk/publish/article/829722;jsessio nid=EEE7C8427A6AB978C0675C37283D2933> (accessed: 01.06.2019) (in Ukrainian).