Information, topic by topic, on prisons across the world

February 5, 2024

United Kingdom: Scottish prison boss says 'we can't take any more'

News

Europe Material conditions Overcrowding United Kingdom

The head of the Scottish Prison Service Teresa Medhurst has said the jails are too full and she may soon have to say “enough is enough, we cannot take any more”.

January 25, 2024

United Kingdom: prisoners with severe mental health needs spending months in isolation

News

Europe Discipline Mental health United Kingdom

Independent Monitoring Board says jails in England using segregation too often as a way of managing inmates

January 19, 2024

United Kingdom: pregnant woman’s jail sentence quashed in ‘landmark’ ruling

News

Women Europe Justice United Kingdom

The court of appeal has quashed the prison sentence of a heavily pregnant woman so that she can give birth safely, in a case hailed as a landmark by campaigners.

January 17, 2024

Ireland: record prison overcrowding 'set to worsen'

News

Europe Overcrowding Ireland

There were 4,748 people in custody on Tuesday, just one off the record which was set last July — and experts fear the number could hit 5,000 by the middle of the year.

January 17, 2024

Estonia: Tartu prison cuts number of prisoners by half and 90 jobs

News

Europe Facilities Estonia

The Tartu prison will hold half its current number of inmates starting from July 1, which will cause 90 people to be laid off, head of the Estonian Prison Service Rait Kuuse said.

January 12, 2024

United Kingdom: “prison staff discouraged education”

News

Europe Activities United Kingdom

Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years in jail as the victim of a wrongful conviction, has said that prison staff discouraged him from studying for a university degree.

January 12, 2024

Netherlands: more attention needed for children with fathers in prison

News

Europe Social ties Netherlands

The Netherlands has at least 24,000 children whose fathers are in prison. Two-thirds of them are underage, with an average age of 9, according to Ph.D. research by Angela Verhagen of the Avans University of Applied Sciences.

January 12, 2024

Malta: government proposes rehab instead of prison term for persons already jailed over drugs

News

Europe Justice Drugs Malta

The Ministry for Justice has launched a public consultation process on a Bill which proposes that persons who were found in possession of drugs in jail, and in the meantime have already served a prison sentence and have rehabilitated themselves, can qualify to be tried by the drugs court.

January 12, 2024

Belgium: prison staff hold 24-hour strike

News

Europe Material conditions Overcrowding Belgium

Belgian prison staff walked out on strike for 24 hours as part of a joint trade union front, citing overcrowding and “deplorable conditions” for prisoners.

January 12, 2024

Belgium: diverging pathways

Interview

Europe Material conditions Facilities Overcrowding Alternatives Belgium

In recent years, authorities have followed a policy of constructing new ‘mega-prisons’. At the same time, the prison estate has welcomed the creation of smaller facilities. The simultaneous development of these opposing approaches raises a number of questions.

December 31, 2023

United Kingdom: trainee prison officers "encouraged to be more violent"

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Europe Discipline Violence United Kingdom

Female graduate trainee prison officers have described a toxic and sexist culture where they were encouraged to be more violent as new figures show one in three on the scheme drop out.

December 15, 2023

United Kingdom: "Ban on short sentences" will free up fewer than 1,000 prison places

News

Europe Justice Overcrowding United Kingdom

A reform which will see short sentences served in the community rather than in custody will have only a small impact on the prison capacity crisis, the Government has admitted.

December 8, 2023

Germany: Justice Department plans more suicide prevention

News

Europe Mental health Suicide Germany

The Berlin Senate Department for Justice wants to reduce the risk of suicide among prison inmates and create special detention rooms for this purpose.

December 3, 2023

Malta: prison facility is on a “very good” track forward

News

Europe Material conditions Facilities Malta

Compared to the Corradino Correctional Facility of 15 years ago, Prisoner Welfare Commissioner Steve Libreri said that there has been a “considerable” improvement in supportive services, the prison environment, as well as a change in the culture of correctional officers, leading to a prison facilit…

November 17, 2023

United Kingdom: inspectors find squalid conditions, spiralling self-harm and violence at Bedford Prison

News

Europe Mental health Material conditions Violence United Kingdom

HM Inspector of Prisons says that conditions at HMP Bedford have deteriorated so sharply that they’ve had to issue an urgent notification for improvement.

November 16, 2023

United Kingdom: poor support for rehabilitation may cause prison leavers to reoffend

News

Europe Rehabilitation United Kingdom

A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found a significant decline in the quality of support given to prison leavers, which is predicted to increase the likelihood that prisoners will reoffend once released.

November 15, 2023

Scotland: “You go to prison as punishment, not to be punished”

Interview

Women Europe Mental health Material conditions Facilities Rehabilitation United Kingdom

In 2022, a new type of detention facility was introduced into the Scottish prison system: Community Custody Units (CCUs). Through trauma informed principles, their aim is to empower women to manage their sentence plans and support their community integration. Interview.

November 14, 2023

Norway: a case for a rehabilitation oriented prison system

News

Europe Rehabilitation Norway

Should incarceration primarily serve as a means of punishment or an opportunity for rehabilitation? The conventional approach in many countries has been to focus on punitive measures in the belief that harsh sentences act as a deterrent to crime. However, Norway’s experiment with a rehabilitation-o…

November 14, 2023

Croatia: the country ordered to compensate ex-prisoner for poor jail conditions

News

Europe Justice Material conditions Croatia

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Croatia must pay 15,000 euros in compensation to Zoran Vukusic because he was kept in inhumane conditions in secure prison cells.

October 26, 2023

France: immersed in a prison cell

Testimonial

Culture Europe Material conditions France

In 2016, Djibril Siby penned My Life in Prison, a play in which he shares his experience of life in detention. The success of the play has inspired Siby to return to the stage today. Testimonial.

October 25, 2023

United Kingdom: cells without toilets persist despite "slopping out" law

News

Europe Health Material conditions United Kingdom

Prisoners in some facilities forced to defecate in buckets overnight, a practice outlawed in 1996.

October 10, 2023

Europe: EU and Council of Europe reaffirm their opposition to capital punishment

News

Europe Death penalty

The European Union and the Council of Europe strongly reaffirm their unequivocal opposition to the death penalty “in all cases and in all circumstances”, including any reintroduction of it, on the European and World Day against the Death Penalty, celebrated on 10 October.

October 9, 2023

United Kingdom: prison fails on inmate living conditions

News

Europe Material conditions Work United Kingdom

Dartmoor Prison is failing to provide adequate living conditions, education and work opportunities for its inmates, says an inspectors’ report.

October 6, 2023

United Kingdom: over 100,000 children have parent in prison

News

Europe Social ties United Kingdom

Record comes as Estonia confirms it is in talks with UK over plans to accept British prisoners amid overcrowding crisis