Special Report to the Storting Document 4:3 (2018–2019) 16 2 Definition of solitary confinement It is a fundamental principle that, except for the consequences of being deprived of their liberty, prison inmates have the same human rights as everybody else. Inmates shall be offered activities and ­opportunities that facilitate a life as law-abiding citizens when they are released. This includes the opportunity to spend time in the company of other inmates every day. The Execution of Sentences Act states that, as a rule, inmates shall be allowed company during work, training, programmes or other measures, and in their leisure time.6 Access to associate with other inmates may only be limited in accordance with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. The principle of legality as laid down in Article 113 of the Norwegian Constitution, entails that infringement of the authorities against the individual must be founded on the law. Solitary ­confinement is a highly intrusive measure for the individual concerned. This makes the requirement for clear and accurate legal authority more pertinent.7 Internationally, there are several different definitions of the term ‘solitary confinement’. In each case, the point of departure is that solitary confinement is a measure that is serious, intrusive and detrimental to health. The CPT describes solitary confinement in the following way: ‘The CPT understands the term solitary confinement as meaning whenever a prisoner is ordered to be held separately from other prisoners...A prisoner subject to such a measure will usually be held on his/her own; however, in some States he/she may be accommodated together with one or two other prisoners, and this section applies equally to such situations’.8 The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) establishes 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 specific time limits with a view to limiting the most harmful forms of solitary confinement. The Nelson Mandela Rules state that: ‘For the purpose of these rules, solitary confinement shall refer to the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact’.9 Under the Nelson Mandela Rules, it is prohibited to use this form of isolation for more than 15 consecutive days.10 The Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement, adopted by a group of experts in 2007, describes what is typical of solitary confinement: ‘Meaningful contact with other people is typically reduced to a minimum. The reduction in stimuli is not only quantitative but also qualitative. The available stimuli and the occasional social contacts are seldom freely chosen, are generally monotonous, and are often not empathetic’.11 In other words, solitary confinement essentially means that the inmate is kept separate from other inmates and that meaningful human contact is reduced to a minimum. For such contact to be meaningful, it should be empathetic and face to face. The communication should not be fleeting or incidental to the performance of other tasks, such as delivering food trays or ­medication.12 In this report, we use the term solitary ­confinement to cover situations in which an ­inmate is locked up in a cell for much of the day, for r­ easons of security or control, on the inmate’s own ­request, or on account of building or ­staffing ­conditions or other circumstances in the prison. The Execution of Sentences Act Section 17 first paragraph. See, inter alia, Rt. 1995 p. 530 (the Fjord Salmon Judgment). Council of Europe: Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), 21st General Report, 10 November 2011, CPT/Inf (2011) 28. The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), adopted by the UN General Assembly on 17 December 2015, Rule 45(1). The Nelson Mandela Rules, Rule 44, cf. Rule 43(1)(b). The Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement, adopted 9 December 2007 at the International Psychological Trauma Symposium in Istanbul in Turkey. See Essex Paper 3, Initial Guidance on the interpretation and implementation of the UN Nelson Mandela Rules, written by an expert group organised under Penal Reform International and Essex Human Rights Centre, 7–8 April 2016, pp. 88–89. 17 ‹ 2