Recommendations of the Commission of the Länder The Commission of the Länder encountered an inmate in solitary confinement on the occasion of its visit. According to the prison governor, the inmate had been transferred to Werl after an incident in Aachen prison, and was to remain there for four weeks. He had been there for a week at the time of the visit. Because of his aggressive conduct towards officers, the inmate had been placed in a socalled settlement cell. This is secured with an additional barred door through which all communication takes place. There is a sight guard outside the window. Outdoor exercise only takes place singly and with handcuffs. According to the governor, the inmate’s conduct did not currently permit any relaxation of these incisive measures. The Commission recommends that the inmate be placed under in-patient observation in a prison psychiatric hospital. A small number of cells – including those cells in which solitary confinement is enforced – are provided with a sight guard which almost completely prevents a person from looking out of the window. This also considerably restricts the entrance of daylight and access to fresh air. A remedy should be found for this. The duration of inmates’ stay in the access department differs widely and fluctuates between six weeks and six months. The Commission of the Länder suggests regulating with clear, binding instructions the occupancy and duration of stay in the access department. 51 Reaction of the Ministry of Justice of the Land North Rhine-Westphalia There would have to be a medical indication in order for there to be a new psychiatric examination or a placement in the psychiatric department of the prison hospital in Fröndenberg. The governor of Werl prison had accordingly commissioned the prison doctor and the external psychiatrist working for the prison. The sight guards fitted to the outer wall of the third upper floor not only serve to protect the residents of the staff flats from an invasion of their privacy by the inmates, but the sight guards also prevent contact with persons outside the prison. Nonetheless, the governor is said to be currently examining the installation of fine-meshed bars in place of the sight guards. The occupancy and duration of stay in the access department is said to be in line with the following parameters as a matter of principle: - capacity of the prison - cell capacity in the admissions area - cell capacity in the overall prison - suitability. In the context of the access procedure, it is said that either the “shortened procedure” (as a rule with inmates serving a sentence of less than one year) is implemented or a prison plan is drawn up. Subsequently, a transfer is made to another cell as soon as possible. A stay of six months is said to be a rare exception. That notwithstanding, a review had been commissioned along the