Justice
On March 1, there were 12,316 detainees in Belgian prisons for 10,743 places. Despite extra capacity, there is 15 percent overcrowding.
Places have been added in Belgian prisons over the past year. But there is still almost 15 percent overcrowding, according to figures from the Federal Public Service of Justice.
A year ago the situation was even worse. On March 1, 2023, there were 11,402 detainees for 9,755 places, which corresponds to an overcrowding of almost 17 percent.
On March 1 this year, 250 detainees were sleeping on mattresses on the floor in the north of the country, Justice reports, even though more than 281 additional beds were installed in prisons.
On Saturday it was announced that Hasselt prison is not accepting new detainees due to overcrowding. The staff has started the action, the ACOD union reported. The day before, the socialist union had also submitted a strike notice for March 10 and 11 in front of the Antwerp prison. The union referred to various incidents due to overcrowding.
Longer pre-trial detention
According to the Ministry of Justice, the increase in the number of detainees cannot be attributed to one cause. The Prison Service has noted that pre-trial detention lasts longer and that there are more internments. The introduction of short sentences is also an important factor, it sounds.
“With regard to the composition of the prison population, we note an increase within all groups: internees, accused/suspects (in pre-trial detention) and definitively sentenced to sentences of up to 3 years and above 3 years,” the Ministry of Justice said.
The capacity created by, among other things, the construction of new prisons and small-scale forms of detention such as detention houses and transition houses, does not keep up with the rapid growth in the number of detainees.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Justice reports that recruitment and training of new workers, just like in other sectors, constitutes “a major challenge”, which delays the availability of capacity.
