31 Visits in 2015 Prisons Ringerike Prison 6–9 January 2015 Announced visit The prison’s ordinary capacity is 160 cells. The prison is required to turn five cells into double cells. This gives an overall capacity of 165 places. All the inmates are men. It is a high-security prison whose primary target group is inmates on remand and long-term inmates. Findings The visit showed that the use of coercive measures and exclusion from company were well documented through administrative decisions, supervision logs and the keeping of records. The administrative decisions met the requirements for grounds and stated whether less intrusive measures had been attempted. The administrative decisions and records also showed that partial exclusion from company was often used as an alternative to complete exclusion. As a result of the prison’s high occupancy level, newly admitted inmates and inmates who are transferred from the communal sections to the restricted section on the basis of administrative decisions regarding exclusion from company, remained in the restricted section considerably longer than they should. It also emerged that the majority of the inmates in the restricted section experienced a high degree of isolation. The lack of activity programmes for a high number of inmates in the prison in general gave cause for concern. It was found that there was a high presence of prison officers in the living sections, and most of the inmates stated that they felt secure in the communal sections. The inmates seemed to be generally satisfied with the prison officers. However, there was a need for more contact officers in department A, and to ensure that the inmates receive adequate information on arrival. A separate review of procedures to prevent suicide and self-harm found that better communication was required in the Correctional Services, within Ringerike Prison and between the police and the Correctional Services. The prison should strengthen its procedures for preventing suicide, particularly on arrival. Many inmates expressed frustration over what they perceived as a strict control regime. This included visit control, the possibility of making phone calls and being denied home leave. Most of the inmates stated that they had inadequate access to the prison health service, and many said that they had lost confidence in the health department. Foreign inmates or inmates with family members or relations who do not speak Norwegian or English found that their possibility of having contact with their next of kin was very limited. After the visit After the NPM’s visit, Ringerike Prison initiated thorough efforts to follow up the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s recommendations. In particular, it has had a systematic Ringerike Prison