THE PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMEN’S SPECIAL C ASE RE VIE W ON THE ISOLATION OF INMATES IN REMAND PRISON 9 9 The Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s own-initiative inquiry on the isolation of inmates in remand prison Section 8.2 states that, at the end of 2017, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen requested the Prison and Probation Service to report back on its work in following up on the amount of time inmates spend in association and the use of isolation-breaking measures. What emerged in the reporting back meant that Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman Elisabeth Rynning decided to open an own-initiative inquiry to follow up on the issues of placement of inmates in association and the use of isolation-breaking measures.1 In March 2019, the Prison and Probation Service’s Director of Prisons and Remand Prisons was called to a dialogue meeting at the Parliamentary Ombudsmen. At the meeting, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman addressed a number of issues concerning the situation for inmates under the care of the Prison and Probation Service. The meeting was recorded in minutes and the Prison and Probation Service was given the opportunity to comment on the minutes. Prior to the dialogue meeting, the Prison and Probation Service received details of a number of issues that the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman wanted to address at the meeting. The meeting addressed the following overarching issues: 1. Inmates’ rights of association with other inmates. 2. Measures to break the isolation of inmates. 3. The possibility to follow the work with isolationbreaking measures. 1 Following the meeting, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman decided to initiate an own-initiative inquiry. The minutes of the meeting and the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman’s decision can be found in Appendices B and C. 9.1 Inmates’ right of association with other inmates Section 2.3 states that, as a main rule, an inmate held on remand has the right to associate with other inmates during the day. Unlike in prisons, there is no minimum amount of time specifying the extent to which an inmate must be able to exercise this right. At the dialogue meeting, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman raised the issue of inmates’ right of association with one another. According to the representatives of the Prison and Probation Service, the premise is that inmates in remand prison should spend a large part of the day in association with other inmates. However, according to the Prison and Probation Service, it is difficult to set a minimum amount of time for daily association as the agency is so far from reaching its objective that inmates with restrictions should not be isolated, i.e. receive a measure for two hours or more per day that involves meaningful human contact. In her decision, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman states that she cannot interpret the situation in any other way than that the Prison and Probation Service’s work with isolation-breaking measures for inmates with See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen dnr O 7-2018. – 57 –