As regards remand, a different regime from that of convicts applies to them. The period of remand is generally one year, but a few inmates have been in custody for 5 years. In the latter cases, one of them had a mental problem. The Gambia does not have any political prisoner. • Problem The only major problem facing the prisons is transport. Difficulties are encountered in conveying prisoners to court. • Common Offences Stealing, burglary and sexual offences are the common crimes. Ten to fifteen rapes occur in a year. Life imprisonment is the punishment for rape while 14 years is that for defilement. Murder used to be a serious problem, but it has gone down as a result of the introduction of the death sentence although it has not been applied yet. • Death penalty The death sentence was rarely carried out; the one instance which comes to mind is the murder of a former Commissioner of Prisons. The Gambia is a peaceful country. • Final Court of Appeal 18 months after the coming into force of the new Constitution, the Privy Council ceased to be the final Court of Appeal for The Gambia. Happy to relate, news of the discovery or appearance of Shyngle Nyassi reached me in the Office of the Attorney-General . iii) Justice Yahya A High Court Judge, Shyngle Nyassi's case was before him. At the time of the visit, he was also a member of the Prisons Committee. He considered the Prison Committee one of the most successful Committees he had served on or known. The Committee meets once a month, and it has been functioning for about one year. The Prison Committee is concerned about the welfare of prisoners. Any member of the Committee can walk into any prison at any time to taste the food of the inmates. Everyday a doctor goes to the 2 prisons in Banjul. A dietitian from the department of Health draws up a balanced diet for the prisoners. Prisoners are involved in the supervision of the preparation of their meals. 3 meals are provided each day for the prisoners. Prisoners used to have 3 hours in the open each day, but this has been increased to about 5 hours. A prisoner also used to be entitled to a visit once a month but it has been reduced to once in two weeks. Equally, a whole family may now visit once in a fortnight. It used to be one person per visit. Prisoners are also supplied with soap. On remand, Justice Yahya liased with the Chief Justice, who set up a Committee headed by the latter. The Director of Public Prosecution, the Judicial Secretary and a Senior member of the Police Force were members of the Committee. The Committee moved to 8