العقوبة السالبة للحرية وبدائلها

Abstract

Freedom depriving sentence made a great human progress during the 19th century in regards to physical sentences. It has occupied the first place among other sentences as reformists see that it can take different forms in terms of its field and method of application. The objectives of this sentence developed from being merely concerned with severe means of deterrence to being interested in how to reintegrate the criminal in the society and make him a good follow and a better citizen. This sentence is a subject of heated debate nowadays because of the troubles it may lead to as may be shown through the terrifying results concerning the number of people committing second offences after leaving the prison, in addition to the high expenses the application of such a sentence requires. This leads us to question the utility of the prison and the benefit from social re-adaptation of the criminal. Many researchers in penal science came to realize the limitation of the imprisonment sentence in protecting society and redressing wrongdoers. In front of such a situation, it is extremely necessary to look for other means of punishment or alternatives which may replace the freedomdepriving sentence especially short-term ones that may prevent its limitations without losing its essence or very reason of existence which is that of scolding and rebuking. These alternatives can be penal governed by laws related to punishment measures such as imposing fines or working for the benefit of the public, delaying the pronouncement of the sentence, reducing it or deterring its execution, judicial testing and submitting the criminal to electronic control. They may also be non penal such as the substitutes offered by some legal systems like compensation in civil code or administrative sanctions in the administrative code or arbitration in the commercial code. There are also social alternatives which were met by success in some countries, such as the “community board” and “neighborhood justice centers”. This study is an emphasis on the necessity to extend the use of alternatives of the freedom depriving sentence in the Algerian legislation and to gain benefit from the experience undertaken by other countries in this field.