Norway
Capital city — Oslo
Latest updates
The specific needs of prisoners are taken into account with regard to
- language
- religion
- diet
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In October 2022, the prison service published brochures on solitary confinement in the Sámi language[^sami]. They are addressed to prisoners and their relatives, employees and lawyers. These brochures provide practical advice on how these different groups of people should approach solitary confinement.
[^sami]: group of languages spoken by the indigenous peoples of northern Norway
Variation in the capacity of the prison facilities
decreased by 5.9%
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The prison service decided in September 2022 to temporarily close the Sarpsborg prison, citing the fire risk from technical issues. All employees will be transferred to Halden Prison, and all prisoners will be moved to other prisons in eastern Norway. No date has been set for Sarpsborg’s reopening.
There are designated places for cultural activities
yes
The most commonly offered cultural activities are music lessons, concerts, film screenings and theatre.
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Music studios are available to prisoners in some prisons, including Halden, Bastøy and Trondheim. Musical events are organised, and Norwegian artists are invited to perform at the facilities.
Some organisations also offer training and musical activities during and after the sentence is served. They organise bands and music groups for former prisoners so they won’t be left entirely to their own devices.
Not all populations have access to these activities. This is the case for women, who are often held in older prisons, and foreign nationals in the Kongsvinger prison, where there is no musical activity offering.
Trondheim Prison introduced specific initiatives for women to address this deficit. It also has a choir in which staff members sing with the prisoners.
Some prison facilities, units or cells implement high-security measures
Closed facilities have different levels of security. Prisoners in secure detention (forvaring) are placed in very high security cells in the special units. The units housing remand prisoners are equipped with reinforced security features. Detox units, however, have less security measures.
Special cells, known as “security cells”, are intended for prisoners whose behaviour is considered particularly aggressive. The prison governor determines when this type of temporary placement is necessary. Prisoners considered dangerous to themselves are subject to hourly surveillance rounds. The governor reports placement in this type of cell to the regional administration when it exceeds more than three days. The security cells are not necessarily located in a special area.
Some facilities have security cells with dry toilets. These are used in cases of serious suspicion of drug trafficking or drug use. The dry toilets make it possible to detect the possible presence of concealed and ingested narcotic products. Placement in this type of facility usually lasts three days and facilitates stool analysis after digestion.
For more information, see solitary confinement.
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The mortality rate after release from prison is higher among prisoners who had been held in high-security prisons, explain researchers from the University of Oslo. They note that in these facilities, prisoners are more likely to suffer from mental health disorders and spend more time in their cells and less time participating in activities.
Vocational training is provided
yes
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The Halden prison cafeteria chef is a prisoner who earned catering qualifications. His certification will not disclose that he earned it while in prison.
The prison service offers activities to prisoners
yes
The Correctional Service requires inmates to engage in daytime activities such as work, training, programmes and other activities.
Remand prisoners are not required to take part in these activities (Enforcement of Sentences Act, section 49).
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At Halden prison, prisoners prepare a fine dining lunch that is served every Friday to invited officials.
Phones calls are wire tapped
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An investigation into the monitoring of prisoners’ phone calls revealed that it is unnecessarily strict and makes it difficult to maintain family ties, especially with children and other important individuals. Prisoners condemned a variety of restrictions such as the short length of calls, their high cost and the lack of an interpreter for communication in their native language. The Ombudsman found that the law, and the practices of prison officials, do not meet the European Convention on Human Rights’ requirements for necessity and proportionality.
Prisoners are allowed to make external phone calls
Phone calls are limited to 20 minutes a week1.
Sivilombudsmannen (Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsman), “Women in Prison: a thematic report about the conditions for female prisoners in Norway”, 2017. p. 48. ↩
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For several months, a prisoner was unable to call his partner, incarcerated in another facility. Prison officials refused his request on the basis that the conversation could not be monitored as the two prisons used the same telephone system. This represented a violation of the prisoner’s right to respect for private and family life according to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Ombudsman judged that correctional authorities must seek out alternatives that take security into account, such as video calls, when a call is extremely important and has been requested for several months. People incarcerated in different facilities can now communicate with each other.