29 Visits in 2017 Prisons Ullersmo Prison, Juvenile Unit East 7–8 February 2017 Ullersmo Prison’s Juvenile Unit East is a high security prison with four places for inmates aged between 15 and 19 years. The unit opened on 12 April 2016 and is one of two prisons in Norway for juvenile inmates. Main findings The units’ basic staff included both prison officers and milieu therapists. The management and employees who form part of the basic staff wear uniforms in their everyday work, except when they participate in leisure activities such as exercise or escort inmates on leave outside the unit. The employees found the use of uniforms unnecessary and an obstacle to developing good relations. In accordance with a decision by the Norwegian Correctional Service’s regional office, the juvenile unit had sometimes had to place juvenile inmates in prisons for adults while waiting for a place at the juvenile unit to become available. This is in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states in Article 37 (c) that every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so. Juvenile Unit East emphasised that this was a temporary measure. The juvenile unit was responsible for attending to these juveniles while they were temporarily placed in other prisons. The information booklet handed out to the juvenile inmates on admission was not well suited for the target group – it was formal and inaccessible. There was no written information about the juvenile unit's routines and rules in any language other than Norwegian. According to documentation submitted by the juvenile unit, use of force was rare. The psychologist worked to prevent violent incidents and use of coercive measures through work with the juveniles and guidance of the staff. The use of security cells for juvenile offenders is a highly invasive measure that is potentially very harmful. The unit had one security cell. At the time of the visit, the security cell was not approved by the Directorate of the Norwegian Correctional Service, and it had not been used. The security cell appeared much like an ordinary security cell in prisons for adult inmates. This contrasted with the security cell at Bjørgvin Prison's Juvenile Unit, which during the visit to that unit was found to have been designed to minimise the strain on juvenile inmates and give a more humane impression. Juvenile Unit East had a separate segregation unit. It was stated during the visit that it had been used once for a period of two days. The NPM’s review of documents showed that decisions were made and supervision carried out and logged. At the time of the visit, Juvenile Unit East had not prepared its own procedures for body searches. From a preventive perspective, fixed procedures are important in order to ensure that body searches are conducted in the gentlest possible way. Eemale staff had been present during body searches of male juveniles on several occasions. The management told the NPM that the use of female staff to search male juveniles would be discontinued. Juvenile inmates were locked in their cells several times during the day, for example when they were not participating in outdoor exercise or preparing food. It is puzzling that the unit considers it necessary to lock inmates in their cells in this way despite the unit's good staffing level. According to the unit’s weekend routines, juvenile inmates who are locked in their cells both during outdoor exercise and while the food is being prepared will spend six hours outside their cell per day. This is less than recommended by international guidelines,