Belgium (From Imprisonment Today and Tomorrow: International Perspectives on Prisoners' Rights and Prison Conditions, P 29-71, 1991, Dirk van Zyl Smit and Frieder Dunkel, eds. -- See NCJ-133824)

• NCJ Number: 133826
• Author(s): S Snacken
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 43 pages
• Sale Source: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Imprisonment in Belgium is discussed with respect to its role in the general system of social control, the use of pretrial detention, the organization of the prison system, current corrections policies, correctional programs for specific populations, and proposals for reform.

Abstract

Although imprisonment is supposed to be only a last resort, it functions as a central feature of corrections policy. Pretrial detention can be imposed for any offense, and prison sentences can be imposed for petty offenses, misdemeanors, and felonies. Preventive detention is permitted for mentally ill offenders, habitual offenders, vagrants, and others. Belgium has a central administration and 32 prisons that include open, half-open, and closed institutions and prisons for mentally ill offenders. The prison population increased from 1975 to 1984 and has declined since then, yet some prisons are overcrowded. Corrections management focuses mainly on security and order rather than on rehabilitation, and prisoners have few rights. Current reform proposals focus on relieving overcrowding and increasing prisoners' rights. Tables and 44 references