As of 31 January 2021, the distribution of prisoners by the length of their sentence was:

• 3 to 6 months: 0.2% (10)
• 6 months to 1 year: 1% (61)
• 1 to 3 years: 4.4% (279)
• 3 to 5 years: 23.6% (1,510)
• 5 to 10 years: 33.1% (2,119)
• Life sentences: 2.9% (186)¹

The number and percentage of prisoners serving sentences longer than ten years were not available.

The official name of the prison service is the General Office of Penitentiary Establishments (Direction générale des établissements pénitentiaire, DGEPI). The territorial network is set up based on the linguistic division of the country, with a northern regional office (Dutch-speaking) and a southern regional office (francophone). Prisoners are placed according to the language they speak. There is often confusion surrounding the division of responsibilities between the federal government and federated entities.

There are three types of prison regimes, generally grouped within different units of the same facility:

• open regime: prisoners can move freely within the prison and are subjected to minimal restraints. In 2022, the CCSP’s annual report disclosed that due to understaffing and overcrowding, certain open-regime institutions were forced to close.¹
• semi-open regime: prisoners can work during the day inside or outside the prison. They must return to their cells at night.
• closed regime: prisoners are kept in their cells. They may leave their cells on various grounds (visitations, work, activities); this is the most common regime.²

The Huy prison for men is noted for having a so-called progressive regime: the prison has different sections, each with a varying degree of freedom. Prisoners may move from one section to another, provided they meet certain conditions, some of which concern their behaviour. There is a closed regime on the ground floor: all prisoners are placed there under observation upon arrival. This lasts for at least six weeks for the untried prisoners and 15 days for those with sentences. During this period, they cannot take part in activities. The following equipment is banned: video game consoles, fans, hot plates, and refrigerators. The prisoners are allowed to have their children visit them upon request.
The first floor has a “closed door” policy. The appliances banned on the ground floor are permitted. Prisoners may participate in activities except for those who are “punished”.
There is an “open door” policy in Unit A. Cell doors remain open at various times of the day, and access to equipment and activities is the same as that of the “closed door” policy. Prisoners who have taken on jobs in housekeeping, kitchen work, or gardening can gain access to this regime. Those who have received training in the facility have priority. Among the criteria considered are behaviour, status, and sentence duration.

There are 39 prison facilities. Nine of the prisons for men have a women’s section.
There are two categories of facilities: jails (maisons d’arrêt) for prisoners awaiting trial or sentencing, and prisons, for those convicted. In practice, numerous facilities house both of these populations.

• jails: Antwerp, Dinant, Huy, Louvain secondaire, Malines, Saint-Gilles.
• prisons: Andenne, Audenarde, Ittre (high security), Leuze-en-Hainaut, Louvain Central, Merksplas, Tongres, Wortel ; Hoogstraten and Marneffe Penitentiary Educational Centre (centres pénitentiaires école, CPE) (mainly training centres); Ruiselede agricultural prison (for prisoners who are at low risk of escaping and who can work in the agricultural centre) ; Saint-Hubert detention centre (mainly focuses on community re-integration).
• jails and prisons: Arlon, Beveren, Bruges, Gand, Haren, Hasselt, Jamioulx, Lantin, Marche-en- Famenne, Gand, Mons, Namur, Nivelles, Termonde, Tournai, Turnhout, Ypres.¹

The prison system also encompasses specialised facilities:

• halfway houses: Malines (opened in 2019), Enghien (opened in 2020 and closed since June 2022) and Gentbrugge (ouverte en octobre 2023). These facilities aim to support prisoners nearing the end of their sentences. They can house 12 to 17 people. The halfway houses are managed by a consortium of private entities, such as G4S (an enterprise specialising in security). The CCSP report on these halfway houses indicated: “These places could be very helpful for the most vulnerable prisoners, worn out by prison. But, to improve the reintegration rate, officials are more likely to take in “model prisoners” and prisoners without problems”. Observers point out a lack of transparency in the management of these facilities.²
• detention houses: Courtrai (opened in September 2022) and Forest (opened in June 2023). Small scale facilities (housing 20 to 60 prisoners) which admit people sentenced a maximum of three years of incarceration and who present a low security risk. Detention houses offer tailored supervision and aim to promote reintegration. Some people have the opportunity to participate in activities outside of the facility.³ Residents are supervised by detention assistants. Officials are planning to create 720 places in detention houses throughout the country.

Several prisons also have specific annexes and sections (units):

• psychiatric annexes in Antwerp, Gand, Jamioulx, Lantin, Louvain secondaire, Merksplas, Mons, Namur, Saint-Gilles prisons
• sections for prisoners under internment measures in Antwerp, Bruges, Merksplas and Turnhout prisons
• medical-surgery centre in Saint-Gilles prison
• drug-free sections in Bruges and Hasselt⁴ prisons

The size and capacity of prison facilities vary greatly. Nine prisons have more than 400 places, and seven have fewer than 100.
Haren prison, which opened in November 2022, is the largest prison in the country, with 1,190 places. It consists of a jail and a prison for men, a closed centre, an open centre for women, an observation centre, and a medical and psychiatric unit. It will replace Forest and Berkendael prisons (closed since November 2022) and, ultimately, Saint Gilles when it closes (in 2024). Haren Observatory, Inter-Environnement Bruxelles and Ligue des Droits Humains criticise Haren prison’s ultra-secure characteristics: triple surrounding walls, enhanced videosurveillance, doors controlled remotely by a computerised system, strict timing of the organisation of prisoners’ days, reduced access to outdoor spaces. Staff shortages prevent the facility from being fully operational. The smallest facility, the Malines halfway house, has 15 places.
The prison system has produced successive “masterplans” since 2008 as a response to issues of prison overcrowding and detention conditions. One of these included opening the Haren prison. Many members of civil society have denounced the government’s mega-prison policy and its public-private partnership approach to management.

The country’s prison facilities in 2022 were distributed as follows: two in Brussels, 16 in Wallonia, and 18 in Flanders.

The training of prison guards consists of 15 days of theory, six months in the field, and ten more days of coursework. Emphasis is placed on security measures, self-defence, and confinement techniques and regulations. Guards must be at least 20 years old and have Belgian nationality. Trainees are often asked to make up for the lack of staff.

Prison guard training is provided by the Training Centre for Penitentiary Staff (Centre de formation du personnel pénitentiaire, CFPP) in Marneffe for francophones and by the Training Centre for Dutch-speaking penitentiary staff (Opleidingscentra voor Penitentiair Personeel, OCPP) in Bruges and Merksplas for Dutch speakers. These centres provide training for all prison staff (guards, managers, administrative, and technical personnel). Continuing education courses are available for staff members.¹

The prison administration tries to fill vacancies rapidly and often hires temporary employees and young people. These recruitments are part of a work-related policy aimed at promoting youth employment by hiring people under the age of 26 with little or no professional experience (“Rosetta contracts”). New agents are immediately put to work, and the focus is on-the-job-training.²

Detention assistants at the Forest detention house must complete three weeks of training before beginning work. In practice, all agents are not trained before they start work. The CGSP union calls for all new agents to be quickly provided with sustained core training.

The annual basic starting salary for guards was 29,851.77 € in 2022. There are also bonuses and additional benefits:  a lump-sum allowance of 25 € net per month (allocation de désagrément), remuneration for evening and night shifts, Saturday shifts at 150%, double remuneration for Sundays and holidays, bonuses for irregular shifts (flexibility bonus).

Absenteeism rate is around 30% in some of the country’s prisons. When there are staff shortages, showers and recreation times are often cancelled, and outside operators providing services to the prison may be turned away.¹ The CCSP reported that at least 31 prisons were understaffed in 2022.