V)  Prison overcrowding overcrowding limits the possibility of serving a sentence closer to the prisoner’s family were in fact blurred due to a lack of space, which significantly limited the motivational influence of internal differentiation on the convicts. When the capacity of a prison is fully utilised, it may be difficult to physically separate these groups, as a result of which internal differentiation was often just words on paper (in some prisons, convicts were placed in bedrooms without regard to their placement in the internal differentiation system, i.e. convicts from the first and third internal differentiation group together). 3) Solution to overcrowding I do not believe that the problem of prison overcrowding can be cured merely by constructing new prisons or restoring existing ones. It is obvious that the numbers of imprisoned persons show a rising trend. In this respect, Dušek concludes that unless the problem of the numbers of imprisoned persons is addressed by changes in approach to penal policy aimed at reducing the prison population, there will be a shortage of approximately 2,300 places in Czech prisons in the upcoming years. 38 For taxpayers, imprisonment is the most expensive of the penalties that may be imposed on offenders. It should be pointed out that the Czech Republic has a relatively high prison population rate. The Czech Republic has approximately twice the number of imprisoned persons per 100 thousand inhabitants as the countries of Western Europe (such as Germany, France, Italy). 39 I refer to CPT’s standpoint on the problem of prison overcrowding; CPT states that countries that have embarked on extensive programmes of prison building only found their prison populations rising in tandem with the increased capacity acquired by their prison estates. According to CPT, the problem would be better resolved by changing the State’s penal policy, with imprisonment being an extreme measure pursuing the objective of rehabilitation of offenders and protection of society; greater use should be made of alternative measures. 40 In this respect, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe issued a recommendation calling on the Member States to address the problem of overcrowding and, when reviewing their 38 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. 1. 39 Source: International Centre for Prison Studies [online] Available at: http://www.prisonstudies.org/ [retrieved on 20 January 2016]. 40 Excerpt from the seventh General Report [CPT/Inf (97) 10], par. 14. 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. /19/