not been adjusted for inflation ever since. Although the crime rate
is generally getting lower 1, the share of recidivist prisoners in the
prison population is growing.
The lack of specialists employed in the prison system does not permit individualised rehabilitation of convicts
Being aware of the broader context, our systematic visits focused
especially on the medical services, the conditions of imprisonment
of people with various health-related handicaps (physical and mental), issues associated with prison capacity and equipment, issues
associated with the employment of prisoners, the (non-)functionality of certain regime-related measures, and safety of prisoners
and the staff in connection with fundamental rights; in this document, we have formulated a number of recommendations for the
Prison Service of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Justice.
It is clear, however, that some decisions can only be made by
the Government as a whole. I want to stress that I am observing
the activities of the Ministry of Justice and the preparation of the
Prisons Outlook 2025 and I welcome the general conception of this
document, which demonstrates awareness of the overlaps with
other policy areas.
I intentionally mention the broader context with which we were
repeatedly confronted during the visits. It is clear that the Prison
Service by itself cannot enact qualitative changes in the prison
system that would ensure efficiency and a much greater degree
of rehabilitation of the convicts. It is clear that overlaps with criminal-law and social policy as such are a necessary precondition
for improvement of the situation in Czech prisons and require
inter-departmental co-operation.
1
DUŠEK, Libor. Hrozí opět přeplnění věznice? Predikce vývoje počtu vězňů v České
republice (Will prisons get overcrowded again? Forecast of future changes in the prison
population in the Czech Republic). Národohospodářský ústav AV ČR (Economic Institute
of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic), Study 13/2015, p. 13.
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Czech prison
population rate is
one of the highest
in Europe