by Decongest the prisons and achieve faster reintegration into society of people who commit crimes. The Department of Justice announced this Friday a strategic plan with 15 measures to reduce admissions in penitentiary centers, betting on the open regime (for example, just going to sleep), restorative justice (reparation of damage to the victim) and rehabilitation. Two of the star measures are two pilot planes: the use of GPS control bracelets as an alternative to entering provisional prison while awaiting trial and the creation of criminal teams that will advise judges and will be made up of social workers, psychologists and criminologists.
The Government presents a plan to decongest prisons and achieve faster reintegration
42% of the prisoners (3,338 inmates) who currently live in Catalan prisons are preventive awaiting trial or serving a sentence of less than two years of prison. es una very high number and hence the open regime is promoted for this inmate population, especially when it is demonstrated that the possibility of the prisoner not losing his Contact with the street or with your job reduces recidivism. For the Department of Justice, admission to a closed prison should be the last measure to be applied.
42% of Catalan prisoners are in preventive detention or serving a sentence of less than two years.
The Minister of Justice, Drets i Memòria, Gemma Ubasart, He assured at the event held at the Palau Robert in Barcelona that the so-called National Strategy for Obertalitat Penitenciària is an ambitious project, whose objective is to “advance social cohesion and citizen security.” It is, he specified, “a country strategy that must lay the foundations to give new impetus to the Catalan commitment to the open environment and reintegration.”
An impulse, he added, “that contributes to shaping the model of society we want: a more cohesive, safer and victimless society.” And given the high rate of preventive prisoners with a sentence of less than two years, the head of Justice has pointed out that as political leaders they must “have the obligation to put the necessary vision, resources and tools to reduce internment.”
The three axes of the project
The initiative is built on three axes: the impulse of the open middle and transition in the community; the principle of proportionality and entry to prison as a last resort and the reinforcement of reintegration mechanisms within penitentiary centers. In this sense, a latest study indicates that 26% of people who finish their sentence in the second degree (closed regime) reoffend, compared to 10% of those who do so if they progress to an open regime.
A technical team made up of social workers, psychologists and criminologists who will advise the judicial bodies.
Among the most notable measures that appear in the plan is the push of the open medium. The percentage of inmates classified in third degree or probation has suffered a decrease in the last three years (from 31.5% to 25%). For this reason, the department is working on the goal of reaching 30% in three years. To achieve this, new grade progression criteria will be transferred to the treatment teams of the penitentiary centers, who are the ones who decide on the classifications of the inmates. The requirements will also be expanded so that more people can access the third degree classification (open regime) at the time of the start of serving their sentence.
Restorative justice
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One of the most innovative measures is the pilot plan. to introduce the use of GPS bracelets as alternative in the income is preventive prison. In Catalonia, 20% of the total number of people deprived of liberty are in provisional prison awaiting trial (1,663). The result of this pilot plan will allow us to verify if it is effective and if the judges incorporate it as an alternative. Along the same lines of giving tools to judges to have evaluation elements, a second pilot plan will be developed with a penal technical team que will advise to the judicial bodies before decision makings regarding ordinary and extraordinary suspensions of prison sentences.
Other initiatives included in this plan aim to promote restorative justice, both in the investigation and investigation phase and in the execution of the sentence. To achieve this, the Department of Justice will strengthen the restorative justice teams and the dialogue between the department and legal operators to refer more cases before the prison sentence is carried out. That is, an attempt will be made to reach an agreement between the victim and the person who committed the crime. In this way, judges will be able to suspend the custodial sentence. Through this means the victim can obtain the desired reparation and the accused would avoid admission to a penitentiary center as long as he complies with the agreement.
