The criminal policy of advanced European countries is undergoing dynamic changes. However, the character and direction of reforms to these criminal justice systems is unclear and the issue is highly controversial. Penological ideas supporting humanitarian reforms of criminal justice system are well developed. Nevertheless, it can not be said, that in western societies there is currently a general tendency towards a more civilized and conciliatory approach to the issue of punishment, or to the question of setting limits to criminal penalties. On the contrary, there are tendencies in contemporary legislation which run counter to the development of more conciliatory, civilized ways of resolving human conflicts. This situation is caused by a combination of recent, non-humanitarian trends in penological thinking, together with some of the side effects of globalization. As a result, penology has become a site of confrontation between different visions of societies’ future development. This is why the penological debate is so vital, particularly in those countries where the processes both of globalization and also of theoretical and ideological confrontation are the most advanced.