36 criminal sanctions • Prisoners must have access to legal provisions relevant to imprisonment, as well as information about the activities and practices in the prison, to ensure their awareness of all relevant information. The Deputy-Ombudsman found in the case of two prisons that neither the prisoners nor the prison officers were aware of where the provisions could be accessed. In addition, the prisoners should be handed a guide for new prisoners, the prison rules, and the daily programme of the ward on their arrival. The best way for prisoners to be aware of relevant information is to have their personal copies of the necessary documents. The Deputy-Ombudsman recommended that the prison properly establishes who is responsible for the guidance of new prisoners and provides them with the necessary documents. Follow-up: The prison responded that there were now folders in each ward containing the regulations and house rules relevant to the prisoners, as well as a list of guidelines and regulations issued by the Criminal Sanctions Agency and a note that all the materials were available in personal copies. The guide for new prisoners was being updated, and in the future it will be handed out to all new prisoners on arrival. In addition, it will be verified that each new prisoner is given an entrance interview and induction. The position of female remand prisoners • A prison had reserved places in the closed ward for three female remand prisoners in two cells; one of the cells could be shared by two remand prisoners, if necessary. The cell for two prisoners was found to be quite confined even for single occupancy, and there was no door between the room and the toilet in the cell. Furthermore, the women had no separate outdoor area designated specifically for them. In the dialogue between the NPM and the prison director it was agreed that, in practice, the detention of female remand prisoners was identical to isolation. The Deputy-Ombudsman stated that the Remand Imprisonment Act requires that remand prisoners are treated with dignity. Staying confined in a small space for nearly 24 hours a day together with another person does not meet the criteria of dignified treatment. The appropriate treatment in prison also includes the right to use the toilet in privacy. The Deputy-Ombudsman recommended that the toilet be separated from the rest of the room by a door or a screen. In the view of the Deputy-Ombudsman, the cells reserved for female remand prisoners should be used for single occupancy only. Follow-up: The prison responded that the Criminal Sanctions Agency had taken the decision to allocate only two female prisoners to the unit in the future. Currently, each cell has only one bed. According to the prison, the toilet doors were being painted and repaired at the time of the visit, and they had since been reinstalled. The Deputy-Ombudsman found that placing female remand prisoners in facilities such as these was unacceptable and should be discontinued. If the purpose is to provide places for female remand prisoners