2.5.2.4.
Contact with the outside – right to family contact
Unreasonable visiting hours at the Klagenfurt correctional institution and
in the juvenile ward of the Innsbruck correctional institution
The NPM criticises the visiting hours at the Klagenfurt correctional
institution and the juvenile ward of the Innsbruck correctional
institution since they do not take the realities of working persons into
account. This is particularly the case when travel times are taken into
consideration.
The visiting hours are adapted solely to the duty shifts and night shifts
already start in the afternoon. Therefore, there is no opportunity to visit
on the weekend and insufficient opportunity to visit in the evening and
late afternoon. Several detainees stressed that many visitors only had
time on the weekend and that it would be desirable to receive
weekend visits.
No visits on the
weekend
With the current visiting hours, it is not possible to keep a social
network intact. However, this is crucial for assisting former prisoners
and for facilitating their re-socialisation. Visiting hours must be offered
on evenings and weekends so that relationships can be maintained.
This is particularly necessary to enable those who have regular jobs to
come and visit. Therefore, the NPM recommends that visiting hours be
changed and that calls via Skype be made possible at the Klagenfurt
correctional institution.
Weekend visits and
Skype calls demanded
The Federal Ministry of Justice makes reference to Section 94 (1) of the
Penitentiary System Act which provides that the prison warden shall
establish visiting hours on four weekdays, at least one of which shall
be in the evening or on the weekend. It emphasises that correctional
institutions do have an option to enable visits in the evening hours or
on the weekend. A test run at the Klagenfurt correctional institution
showed that an evening visit during the week was preferred over a
visit on the weekend.
Flexible visiting hours
The NPM emphasises the importance of detainees having regular
contact with the outside. The norm, which offers the alternatives of an
evening visit or a visit on the weekend, is merely a statutory minimum
standard in the opinion of the NPM. Therefore – with reference to the
CPT standards – it should be emphasised that encouraging contacts
with the outside should be the guiding principle. Detainees must be
enabled to maintain relationships with their families and close friends
and to have reasonable contact with the outside [CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 –
Rev. 2010, p. 18]. This is even more important for juveniles. The CPT
standards emphasise that encouraging contact with the outside
should be the guiding principle [CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 – Rev. 2010, p. 87].
Guiding principle: to
encourage contact with
the outside world
Particular flexibility is necessary when regulating visits and contacts for
prisoners whose family members are far away. For example, such
inmates could be allowed to accumulate visiting time and/or offered
additional time for telephone contact with their families.
The Federal Ministry of Justice states that currently only the Graz110
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