Cont
ents
visited have meanwhile launched initiatives to tackle the risks identified. The
Inspectorate applauds these developments and hopes that this trend will continue.
It will monitor compliance with the recommendations through scheduled and
unannounced inspection visits.
One relevant development within the prison system is the establishment on 1 June
2017 of the Life Sentence Advisory Board (Adviescollege Levenslanggestraften). The
Advisory Board assesses whether prisoners who have been given a life sentence can
begin activities with a view to their potential release back into society after 25 years
of imprisonment. This recommendation was communicated to the Minister for Legal
Protection by the Advisory Board. The Minister decides whether or not prisoners
should be permitted to embark on these rehabilitation activities, including leave,
once they have served 25 years of their sentence.
Detention of young people in young offenders
institutions
The Inspectorate of Justice and Security as well as the Health and Youth Care
Inspectorate are part of the NPM. Inspections carried out in spring 2018, interim
monitoring and the previous cycle of screenings of young offenders institutions led
the Inspectorates to identify persistent bottlenecks and difficulties with regard to the
issues of staffing and the changing target group 3. The quantitative and qualitative
staff resources have come under pressure. In addition, the youths who are detained
at the young offenders institutions on average are older upon entry, and suffer more
serious and long-term existing problems. The issues identified will also be taken into
account when establishing risk-based monitoring at the young offenders institutions.
Terrorist wings
Medical care
The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate, which is part of the NPM, has investigated
whether good care is provided on the terrorist wings of the Vught and Rotterdam
prisons. It concludes that the care provided on the terrorist wing is adequate.
Subject to specific security regulations, the care provided to prisoners on the
terrorist wing is no different to the care received by prisoners on any other wing.
For example, there is prompt access to expert care. Although consultations are
often held on the wing itself for security reasons, this situation does not cause a
delay in the provision of care. The division of responsibility, consultation structure
and method of information exchange have been defined, while medication safety
has been guaranteed. Psychologists plays a more active role in the provision of care
than in other wings, even where there is no mental health disorder in the strict
sense of the word.
3
In this context, the Inspectorates collaborated with the Education Inspectorate as well as the Social Affairs
and Employment Inspectorate.
6