Prisons in Germany

The prisons in Germany are run solely by the federal states, although governed by a federal law. The aim of prison confinement in Germany is two-fold: emphasis is placed on enabling prisoners to lead a life of "social responsibility free of crime" upon release, but society is also to be protected from further acts of crime by the guilty.

Organisation

The head offices for the state prison services are in the respective state justice ministry. There, a prison service department controls the organisation of the prison service, personnel matters, basic and advanced training for prison staff, budgets, construction, cooperation in prison service legislation, the employment of prisoners, and vocational training and education for prisoners. It also reviews petitions and complaints and its representatives visit and inspect the prisons regularly. There is no mid-level authority anymore between the Ministry of Justice and the prisons. This direct contact facilitates decision-making and ensures the ministry is close to the life of the prison service.

Confinement

As a rule, pretrial confinement is conducted at a facility close to the public prosecutor’s office that is prosecuting the case. Criminals who have never been imprisoned (or were imprisoned for a maximum of three months) are generally assigned to prisons for first-time offenders ("Erstvollzug"). Recidivists are assigned to so-called regular imprisonment ("Regelvollzug"). People who receive long sentences are imprisoned at a maximum security prison ("Langstrafenanstalt"). Special institutions are also provided for female and juvenile prisoners and for those with special health or psychiatric needs.

Law

The first German Prison Act was passed in 1976 by the federal legislation. It applies only to adults. Because of a 2006 decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, also Juvenile corrections has to be put on a legal basis until the end of 2007. In an unrelated development, the Federal German parliament decided in 2006, to reorganize relations between the Federal government and the laender states ("federalism reform"). In this context prison legislation was assigned to the individual laender/states. By 1.1.2008 prison laws for adults will come into effect in three laender/states(Bavaria, Hamburg, Lower Saxonia). In the other laender/states the old Federal Prison Act will remain in force for the time being.

ee also

*Law enforcement in Germany

External links

*University of Bremen prisons archive: http://www.strafvollzugsarchiv.de