THE PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMEN’S SPECIAL C ASE RE VIE W ON THE ISOLATION OF INMATES IN REMAND PRISON system – as far as she knows – has not yet begun as of February 2020. As the need to be able to follow the work with isolation-breaking measures is so great, the estimated production time of five years is unacceptably long. The Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman again emphasises that the Prison and Probation Service, in its statistics on the use of isolation-breaking measures, also reports the time that inmates placed in an association department and association places spend outside their cell.7 In the opinion of the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, it is wrong to discuss isolation-breaking measures in relation to this group of inmates and, in addition, the statistics are misleading. In the opinion of the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, reporting isolation-breaking measures should only be required in relation to inmates with restrictions or who are segregated. As long as the Prison and Probation Service, due to structural shortcomings, finds it difficult to satisfy inmates’ rights of association with other inmates, there is – in the opinion of Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman – also a need for the Prison and Probation Service to report on the extent to which the agency satisfies these rights. 9.4 Need for legislative changes In the opinion of the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, there is a need to review the legislation in order to deal with the unacceptable situation that currently prevails within the Prison and Probation Service’s operations. In the opinion of the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, the following measures should be taken: • The meaning of association must be defined in both the Prisons Act and the Remand Prisons Act. It is 7 9 necessary for this right not to be given an arbitrary meaning. A reasonable premise is that association means that an inmate spends time with several other inmates. • In order for the concept of association between inmates not to become meaningless, the legislation must state the extent to which inmates have the right to associate with other inmates on a daily basis. It is not sufficient that it is only stated in the Prison and Probation Service’s own regulations for prisons, and it is not acceptable that such regulations are completely absent in the case of remand prisons. In the opinion of the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, there should be no difference as regards the meaning of association within one agency. • A provision should be introduced that guarantees inmates isolation-breaking measures for a certain period of time per day. In the opinion of the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, the minimum time should be set higher than the two hours proposed by the Remand Prison and Restriction Government Inquiry. Furthermore, this right should not only cover inmates with restrictions, but all inmates who are placed in segregation. • There is a continued need for statutory regulation with specific times for review of segregation decisions in remand prisons. • There is a continued need to clarify the legislation with regard to how the basis upon which the Prison and Probation Service decides on placing inmates in segregation relates to restrictions imposed by a prosecutor with regard to an inmate’s right of association. See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report dnr O 7-2018 p. 9. – 63 –