prisons are reformation centres not punishment centres. The motto “every official becoming a rehabilitator, every prison becoming a correctional centre - a place of new beginnings, every offender becoming a nation server through correction…” must be true in word and in spirit. As shown by the graph below, life sentences alone have risen from 500 in 1995 to 5,000 in 2004, representing 1,000% increase. Source: Office of the Inspecting Judge - Graph showing steep increase in the number of life sentences since 1995 Correctional services are an essential part of a coordinated and interdependent criminal justice system, and are provided by various levels of government. The primary purpose of the correctional service must be to contribute to the achievement of a safe and just society and to promote responsible citizenship. This can be done by, inter alia, providing the court with the widest possible choice of options in sentencing; carrying out the decisions of the court; providing appropriate measures of security, direction and control for the accused or the convicted offender; encouraging the offender's participation, whether in the community or in a correctional institution, in programs provided and designed to aid his/her successful integration into the community; and co-operating with persons and agencies within and outside the criminal justice system to prevent crime and offer services to all persons involved in the criminal justice process. In the light of the above purposes, a successful criminal justice system would strive to uphold certain basic principles to guarantee the rights and dignity of all those involved in the correctional process. These principles include the following: 40