the prison and probation service 35 fundamental rights are met. The latter may concern the right of association with other inmates, outdoor access, etc. Observations made during the year concerning the isolation of remand prisoners are reported separately in Section 8 of this report. Placing inmates in segregation As a main rule, an inmate in a prison must, during the time when they are obliged to perform or participate in occupational activities, associate with other inmates. Furthermore, according to the main rule, an inmate must be given the opportunity to associate with other inmates in their free time. Association with others may be limited by the Prison and Probation Service deciding that an inmate should be segregated. Inmates may be segregated at night during the so-called daily rest period. Furthermore, the Prison and Probation Service may take decisions to segregate for reasons of maintaining order or security, when investigating misbehaviour or to carry out a strip search. An inmate in a prison can also be placed in segregation at their own request.3 The Prison and Probation Service may also place a remand prisoner in segregation if it is deemed necessary for reasons of maintaining order or security.4 During a number of prison inspections in 2019, it was noted that the Prison and Probation Service’s decisions on segregating were inadequately formulated.5 It was not always possible to read why the inmates had been segregated. Following the inspections, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman emphasised that a decision that can be assumed to affect an individual’s situation in a not insignificant manner must, unless it is unnecessary, contain a clear justification with information detailing the circumstances that have been decisive for the agency to take such a position. If an inmate is segregated, the measure must be documented and the documentation must state the reasons for the measure. The Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman called on the Prison and Probation Service to review its procedures for decisions on segregation and the application of the current provisions.6 During the inspection of the prison Västervik Norra, it emerged that it has a special unit for holding inmates segregated at their own request. The unit is divided into two parts; the “locked” and the “semi-open side”. Several of the inmates had been segregated for very long periods of time. One of the inmates had been segregated for over 600 days. In conversations with the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s employees, a couple of the inmates stated that they would rather be placed in association with others in secure places for their own protection, but that the lack of such places had led them to not seeing 3 See Chapter 6, Sections 1–9 of the Prisons Act (2010:610). 4 See Chapter 2, Section 5 of the Remand Prisons Act (2010:611). 5 Such observations were made during the inspections of the prisons in Haparanda and Umeå. 6 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p. 11 and 12, ref. no. O 1-2019 and report p. 11 and 13, ref. no. O 54-2019. Placing inmates segregated at their own request should only be used in exceptional cases once other alternatives are exhausted