V)  Prison overcrowding The situation becomes desperate when the living space per convict 29 is further reduced. I noted with regret that even newly built accommodation facilities for convicts follow the system of shared accommodation of convicts. 30 Lack of privacy in convicts’ everyday life escalates in direct proportion to the growing number of beds in a dormitory. Moreover, multiple-occupancy dormitories imply the risk of intimidation and violence among convicts. Shared accommodation imposes a restriction on proper staff control over convicts and fosters the development of “shadow life in the facility” and “offender subcultures and facilitates the cohesion of criminal organisations”. 31  32 Convicts inside every prison form a system of mutual relationships and links which is invisible from the outside and remains consistently hidden (so-called shadow life of convicts). According to Netík, shadow life includes the formation of a specific informal structure of (a) social relationships and statuses, hierarchy of convicts with precisely defined roles and corresponding rights, as well as socially pathological forms of behaviour. 33 Shadow life may often become a  source of violence among convicts. CPT states that violent incidents among prisoners are a regular occurrence in all prison systems; they involve a wide range of phenomena, from subtle forms of harassment to unconcealed intimidation and serious physical attacks. 34 The EPR lay down in par. 52.2 that ”Procedures shall be in place to ensure the safety of prisoners, prison staff and all visitors and to reduce to a minimum the risk of violence and other events that might threaten safety.” I recommended in my reports that the capacity of individual dormitories should not exceed 8 beds, even if the accommodation capacity of the respective prison has been exceeded. Nevertheless, dormitories should provide a standard aimed at minimising shared accommodation along the example of the more advanced prison systems. example of shared accommodation 29 According to the above-cited Section 17 (6) of the Imprisonment Rules. 30 For example, the new building of the Rapotice Prison (2012) and the restored accommodation facilities in the Pankrác Prison (September 2015). 31 Excerpt from the eleventh General Report [CPT/Inf (2001) 16], par. 29. In: EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR THE PREVENTION OF TORTURE AND INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (CPT). CPT Standards [online]. CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 – Rev. 2004 [retrieved on 20 November 2015]. Available at: http://www.cpt.coe.int/lang/cze/cze-standards.pdf. 32 Similarly also VAN ZYL SMIT, Dirk; SNACKEN, Sonja. Principles of European Prison Law and Polic y. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 50-54. 33 NETÍK, Karel et al. Psychologie v právu: úvod do forenzní psychologie (Psychology in Law: Introduction to Forensic Psychology. 1st ed. Prague: C.H. Beck, 1997, p. 28. 34 EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR THE PREVENTION OF TORTURE AND INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (CPT). CPT Standards, p. 23 [online]. CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 – Rev. 2004 [retrieved on 20 November 2015]. Available at: http://www.cpt.coe.int/lang/ cze/cze-standards.pdf. /17/