34 criminal sanctions 3.4 Criminal sanctions The Criminal Sanctions Agency operates under the Ministry of Justice and is responsible for the enforcement of sentences to imprisonment and community sanctions. The Criminal Sanctions Agency operates 26 prisons. Prisoners serve their sentences in either a closed prison or an open institution. Of Finnish prisons, 15 are closed and 11 open institutions. In addition, certain closed prisons also include open units. Visits mainly focus on closed prisons. The average number of prisoners in 2017 was approximately 3,000. Six prison visits were made in 2017, of which one was made to an open prison (Kerava). The visit to Mikkeli Prison was a follow-up of the visit of November 2016, during which grave legal violations had been observed. The Vantaa Prison visit included an accessibility assessment and a visit to the Vantaa unit of the Health Care Services for Prisoners (VTH). All of the visits were pre-announced, except for one. The visited prisons and their capacity: – Vantaa Prison (232 places) – Kerava Prison (94 places) – Vaasa Prison (59 places; 3 for women and 12 in men’s open prison) – Mikkeli Prison (110 places) – Satakunta Prison, Köyliö Unit (76 places) – Vantaa Prison (183 places) In addition, unannounced visit was made of the detention facilities for persons deprived of their liberty and of their transportation at the Helsinki District Court. Presented in the following are some of the observations made during inspection visits at prisons, and statements and recommendations based on them. Some of the observations and recommendations were not commented on by the visited institutions: The treatment of prisoners and the general atmosphere in the prison • Based on the observations made during the visit, the relationship and communication between the staff and the prisoners was good and unstrained. The atmosphere at the prison was calm. There were no signs of the mistreatment of prisoners or that they were not treated in a dignified manner. During the visit, the prisoners volunteered their opinion that the conduct of the staff was appropriate.