Portugal
Capital city — Lisbon
Latest updates
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On 15 September, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) condemned Portugal for violating Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Portuguese government must pay 26,000 euros to two former prisoners. They had spoken out against degrading prison conditions: overcrowding, inadequate temperatures, dangerous and defective electrical installations, poorly maintained cells, lack of ventilation and lack of privacy in sanitary facilities, poor quality of bedding and food provided, insufficient outdoor exercise, inadequate nutrition, lack of medical care.
Following its periodic visit of Portuguese prisons, carried out from 23 May to 3 June 2022, the CPT expressed its concern regarding the failure of the Portuguese authorities to apply the previous recommendations, in particular those relating to combatting ill-treatment. Credible allegations of physical ill-treatment of prisoners by prison guards were made. They were corroborated by medical reports from prison healthcare professionals.1
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Report to the Portuguese Governement on the visit carried out from 23 May to 3 June 2022”, 2023, pp. 5, 8. ↩
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During unannounced visits to 16 prisons in 2023, the National Preventive Mechanism found evidence of assaults committed against incarcerated people. Eight cases were reported to the public prosecutor’s office, including six supported by videosurveillance images.
Transgender prisoners are entitled to customised searches
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Assignment of transgender prisoners to a specific facility depends on
their ID gender
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The CPT delegation reported that two transgender women were held at each of the two women’s prisons, Santa Cruz do Bispo and Tires, all in individual cells in the regular blocks.
Prisoners are allowed to make external phone calls
Detainees may make calls at their own expense. They may receive calls in the case of particularly important personal or professional situations.
The general regulations of each institution may have restrictions on prisoners placed under a security regime. Decisions to restrict calls are the responsibility of the prison director.
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The CPT delegation reports that, during its periodic visit in 2022, it received numerous complaints from people incarcerated at Tires Prison about the procedure for registering telephone numbers for family members. The procedure was deemed cumbersome. Several people were waiting for numbers to be approved and had not had contact with their families for weeks or even months. Although the system is the same in other prisons, it only seems to pose a problem at Tires Prison.
Number and percentage of prisoners who work
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The CPT observed, in 2022, that around 25% of the people incarcerated at Tires Prison had employment and 25% participated in educational activities.
Security staff is prohibited from entering the room during labour and childbirth
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The CPT reports that several women claim a prison officer was present during their obstetric examinations. Some remained in handcuffs. A guard was present when one incarcerated person gave birth in a hospital. The CPT calls these practices unacceptable, as they infringe on incarcerated people’s privacy and dignity.
The law establishes a minimum standard for living space per prisoner
no
The size of the cells and the equipment they contain conform to European Prison Rules, which recommend, without providing figures that cells satisfy the minimum standards of human dignity1.
Architect Jorge Mealha visited prisons in 2022 in preparation for new constructions. He found that prisoners were crammed into cells of 20 to 30 square metres, freezing in winter and sweltering in summer, with nothing to do but watch television. Most establishments have only dormitories and it is very difficult to obtain information on the number of people per cell.
European Prison Observatory, “Prison conditions in Portugal”, 2013, p. 10. ↩
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The CPT criticises the maintenance and size of certain cells, which are below the minimum standard of 4 m2 of personal space per incarcerated person. It once again recommended that authorities respect this standard in shared cells and increase the space in individual cells to 6 m2.
Ministry in charge
Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health
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An interdepartmental task force presented a proposal to the government in which they recommended transferring the supervision of health care to the Ministry of Health and integrating it into the national health service. According to their report, continuity between health monitoring outside of prisons and within prisons would enable better care for chronic illnesses, reduced costs from new tests, a decreased possibility of drug resistance and a drop in care follow-up issues and criminal recidivism.
The country has been condemned by an international court for its prison overcrowding
yes
The European Court of Human Rights condemned the country, in 2020, because of the conditions of detention observed in the prison of Porto. The Badulescu judgment specifies the reasons for the condemnation: “prison overcrowding, lack of hygiene and heating as well as the insalubrity of the premises “. The complainant, imprisoned in Porto, had less than three square metres of personal space. He was allegedly “subjected to an ordeal of an intensity that exceeds the inevitable level of suffering inherent in detention “ in view of the length of time he was incarcerated. In the past years, some individuals have complained on the basis of Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights (prohibition of torture), about the material conditions of their detention 1. These complaints have been addressed and the Portuguese government has paid compensation to the individuals (between 4,500 and 14,000 euros).
The European Court of Human Rights has once again condemned Portugal, in 2023, for its “inadequate” prison conditions (Cunha Casca v. Portugal, 06/07/2023). The Court’s decision is based on Articles 3 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which pertain to the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to an effective remedy before national courts, respectively. It mentions issues such as prison overcrowding, poor quality of food, lack of or insufficient quantity of food, inadequate temperatures, lack of fresh air, and a lack of privacy.
See, for example, Bokor vs. Portugal, Dragan vs. Portugal, Butuc vs. Portugal, Dumitru vs. Portugal and Patenaude vs. Portugal. ↩
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On 18 January 2024, the European Court of Human Rights once again condemned the country for its poor prison conditions. The Court based its decision on Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which concerns the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. Portugal must pay damages to ten prisoners. The sums to be paid by the state range from 4,500 to 15,400 euros, for a total of 159,000 euros. The ten prisoners must be compensated for the poor conditions in the prisons in which they were held: overcrowded cells, inadequate temperatures, lack of fresh air, lack of privacy in showers, inadequate and poor-quality food, and dirty, mouldy, insect- or rodent-infested cells.