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Portugal
Capital city —
Lisbon
Country population
10,298,252
i
01/2021
/ Council of Europe, [SPACE I – 2021 Report] (https://wp.unil.ch/space/space-ii/annual-reports/)
Incarceration rate (per 100,000 inhabit…
112
i
03/2023
/
World Prison Brief, ICPR
Type of government
Parliamentary republic
Human Development Index
0.866
(38/191)
i
2021
/
UNDP, Human Development Report
Homicide rate (per 100,000 inhabitants)
0.91
i
2020
/
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Name of authority in charge of the pris…
Ministry of Justice
Total number of prisoners
12,442
i
15/01/2023
/ [prison administration]((https://dgrsp.justica.gov.pt/Portals/16/Estatisticas/%C3%81rea%20Prisional/Quinzenais/2023/1q01-2023-sitpen.pdf?ver=YcWdyro24SoCW4lRRFBiUA%3d%3d)
Average length of imprisonment (in mont…
31.8
i
2020
/ Council of Europe,
SPACE I – Report 2021
, p. 123.
Prison density
96.3 %
i
12/2022
/
prison administration
Total number of prison facilities
49
i
2021
/
prison administration
An NPM has been established
yes, in 2013
Female prisoners
7 %
i
15/01/2023
/
prison administration
Incarcerated minors
0.3 %
i
31/12/2019
/
DGRSP
Percentage of untried prisoners
17.3 %
i
31/12/2021
/
prison administration
Death penalty is abolished
yes, since 1976
+
Country-profile
Seen in the press
Year
2024
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Introduction
Overview
Prison population
Organisation
Prison facilities
Staff
Safeguards
Admission and evaluation
Access to rights
Physical integrity
Complaints
National Preventive Mechanisms and other external control bodies
Sentence adjustments policies
Special populations
Women
Minors
Foreign prisoners
Long-term prisoners
Untried prisoners
Minorities or indigenous people
LGBTQI+ people
Elderly prisoners
Persons with disabilities
Death penalty prisoners
Living conditions
Accommodation
Hygiene
Food
Security, order, and discipline
Security measures
Incidents
Disciplinary regime
Solitary confinement
Daily life
Activities
Work
Education and vocational training
Access to information
Religion
External actors
Financial resources
Expression of prisoners
Contact with the outside world
Visitation rights
Correspondence
Phone calls
Health
Organisation of health care
Access to health care
Physical health care
Mental health care
Acronyms
For more information
Print
For more information
Key websites
¶
The
DGRSP
: the Directorate General of Reintegration and Prison Services
The
DGPJ
: the - Directorate General for Justice Policy
ICPR
World Prison Brief, Portugal : key figures on prison systems
The
Portuguese Prison Project
– A photographice exhibition of Portugues prisons
Legal texts (in portuguese)
¶
The
Code for Execution of Sentences and Measures of Deprivation of Liberty
The
Code of Criminal Procedure
The
Penal Code
The
Constitution of Portuguese Republic
The
General Regulations of Penitentiary Institutions
The
Regulations of the use of the means of constraint in the penitentiary services
The
Law 23/2007 on entry, stay, departure and removal of foreigners from the national territory
The
Legislative Decree on the Status of Prison Supervisory Staff
The decree on the classification of penitentiary establishments
The
European Prison Rules
Government statistics on the
prison population by type of institution
, 2017
Government statistics relating to
penitentiary staff
, 2017
Government statistics on the
prison population according to the criminal situation
, 2018
Reports
¶
Ministry of Justice,
Activities Report
, 2010 (in Portuguese)
European Observatory of Prisons, “
The Prison conditions in Portugal
”, 2013 (in English)
Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishments (CPT)
, 2016 (in English)
Scientific articles and press articles
¶
Gomes Sílvia, “
Foreigners and ethnic groups in prison : reflections from Portugal
”, 2014 (en anglais)
“
Opening of the first private prison in July
”, tvi24, 2004 (in Portuguese)
Vidéos
¶
Institutional video
of the penitentiary establishment of Santa Cruz do Bispo, 2015 (in Portuguese)
“Dentro” Documentary
about a high security prison, 2001, (in Portuguese, sub-titles in French)
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