There are two prisons for women:

• Tires Prison

• Santa Cruz do Bispo Prison

Four establishments have female quarters:

• Angra do Heroísmo Prison

• de Guarda Prison

• Ponta Delgada Prison

• The Penitentiary Hospital of São João de Deus

Searches are carried out by female personnel.

The specific needs of women - access to feminine hygiene products and gynecological consultations - are taken care of.

Women have access to activities, training, and work.

Those incarcerated with their children have separate accommodations from others.

Surveillance personnel tasked with welcoming children wear uniforms.

The specific needs of children - food, clothing, healthcare, activities - are taken care of by the prison administration.

The law permits minors to be placed in educational centres (for ages 12 to 16) or to be imprisoned (for ages 16 and over). The regimes available to minors in educational centres vary according to the severity of the offence committed:

• In open regimes: the minor is authorized to leave the educational centre alone, according to schedules fixed beforehand. They can join family on weekends and benefit from 15 consecutive vacation days.

• In semi-open regimes: the minor is authorized to leave the educational centre accompanied by an educator. They do not return home on weekends and have 15 consecutive vacation days.

• In closed regimes: the minor is unable to leave the educational centre.

Only one establishment is dedicated to minors aged 16 and over and young adults up to 21 years of age: the “school prison” of Leiria. This one has 347 spots. The length of the sentence can be extended up to 25 years in this establishment. Placement within is not subject to any legal framework.
The choice to assign a minor to Leiria prison or an adult prison is at the discretion of the DGRSP. This results in the non-separation of minors from adults [^ 8] [^ 9].
Offenders aged 12 to 16 are placed in an educational centre, where they can remain until the age of 21 [^ 10].

Les centres éducatifs sont au nombre de huit :

• Bela Vista educational centre

• Navarro de Paiva educational centre (girls)

• Navarro de Paiva educational centre (boys)

• Olivais educational centre

• Padre António Oliveira educational centre

• Santa Clara educational centre (girls)

• Santa Clara educational centre (boys)

• Santo António educational centre

The general and disciplinary regulations of educational centres, as of 20 December 2000, outlines the legal basis of the organization. It defines the competencies and functions of these centres, which each have their own regulations.

Specific activities are provided for minors in educational centres.

A case management guide, based on the RNR model (Risks, Needs, Responsivity), is given to each educator. Programmes called PEP (personal educational project) are set up in educational centres [^ 11]. These are intended for monitoring educational measures and evaluations. The projects are operated on a voluntary basis by young prisoners. They can be medical projects, collaborative projects with children’s entertainment centres, or even manual crafts.

Incarcerated minors also participate in several educational projects, some of which are compulsory and apply to all centres. Here is a list:

• Prevention and rehabilitation programme for young people with deviant behaviour

• Everyday life skills programme

• Suicide prevention programme

• Drug prevention programme

Each educational centre also chooses to develop its own projects [^ 12].

Support for work, training, and socio-educational activities is provided upon leaving the educational centre.

The foreign nationalities most highly represented in Portuguese prisons are Cape Verdean, Brazilian, Angolan and Romanian.

Staying in the country illegally does not constitute an offence. An illegal alien would not, in principle, be imprisoned. As part of an eviction procedure, they might be placed in a detention centre. A judge must rule on such a placement.

Incarcerated foreigners may phone their country at their expense, with the agreement of the director. The persons contacted must have been previously identified and authorized by the director of the establishment. The latter can always arrange the phone calls for foreigners in prison in a discretionary manner.

By decision of the director of the establishment or the director of the DGRSP, arrangements can be made for visitors residing particularly far from the penitentiary establishment.

People serving long sentences are not subject to any particular detention regime.

The law of 29 August 2007 reformed the framework and limited the duration of pre-trial detention. The maximum duration differs depending on the case. Generally speaking, pre-trial detention cannot exceed 18 months. This period is increased to two years when applied to terrorism-related crimes, organized crime, or crimes punishable by imprisonment for more than eight years. The period of pre-trial detention can be extended up to three years in cases of offences of particular complexity involving several people, and in limited cases (Article 215 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

Pre-trial detention is a coercive measure. Its application can be challenged within 30 days of its ruling (article 219 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
The judge reviews the lawfulness of the pre-trial detention every three months. The detainee may, at any time during this period, request that the judge reconsider their placement in pre-trial detention (article 213 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

The regime for the person placed in pre-trial detention is, as written, the same as that of convicted persons. The same rights are granted. The judge ruling on pre-trial detention may, in the interest of the investigation or for security purposes, decide to limit visits or phone calls. Only the judge is authorized to modify the detention regime for accused persons.

Persons belonging to an ethnic or religious group are not subject to any particular detention regime.

No special protection is provided for LGBTI persons. More general protection exists for vulnerable persons.

Elderly persons are not offered a specific detention regime. However, prison establishments are organized in units according to age groups.

The elderly may be able to benefit from a suspension of their prison sentence from the age of 70 if their state of mental or physical health is no longer compatible with incarceration or if they are no longer capable of understanding the meaning of the sentence they are serving. The measure is only granted in cases of serious, terminal, and irreversible illnesses.

“Human life is inviolable. The death penalty does not apply under any circumstances” (Article 24, Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, 1976). The last execution took place in 1849. Restoring the death penalty is not debatable. A person facing the death penalty in their country cannot be extradited.