As prison populations surge in
the UK, with overcrowded cells and repeat offenders, the opposite is happening
in the Netherlands.
The country is actually to
close eight prisons because of a lack of criminals, the Dutch justice ministry
has announced.
Declining crime rates in the
Netherlands mean that although the country has the capacity for 14,000
prisoners, there are only 12,000 detainees, reported the nrc.nl.
The decrease is expected to
continue, the ministry said, with Deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak
saying that natural redundancy and other measures should counter any forced
lay-offs.
A report last year on prison
overcrowding said that surging populations undermined the rehabilitation of
prisoners and risked increasing reoffending in the future.
The Criminal Justice Alliance
(CJA), which represents more than 60 organisations, called for the government
to urgently limit "the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring it is reserved
for serious, persistent and violent offenders for whom no alternative sanction
is appropriate".
It came after Chief Inspector
of Prisons Nick Hardwick said the rising pressure on prisons from budget cuts
and increasing numbers cannot go on indefinitely.
No comments:
Post a Comment