Spain (From Imprisonment Today and Tomorrow: International Perspectives on Prisoners' Rights and Prison Conditions, P 567-598, 1991, Dirk van Zyl Smit and Frieder Dunkel, eds. -- See NCJ-133824)

• NCJ Number: 133841
• Author(s): E Gimenez-Salinas i Coloner
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 32 pages
• Sale Source: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands

Annotation

Spain's Prison Act of 1979 and the 1981 regulations that were partially amended in 1984 recognize prisoners' rights and have improved corrections management, but its Penal Code continues to provide for long sentences and pretrial detention.

Abstract

Spain had 69 inmates per 100,000 population in 1988, a rate at the middle of Western European countries. Almost half the prisoners are pretrial detainees. Sentences vary with respect to the security level and length of confinement. The law specifies prisoners' rights and considers work to be both a right and a duty. Resocialization is the stated goal of incarceration, and visits, furloughs, and communication are encouraged. However, a gap exists between the law and reality. Enforcement of existing legislation would considerably improve prison conditions, but further legal and management reforms are needed. These include the elimination of imprisonment for juveniles under age 18, the strengthening of alternatives to institutionalization, and efforts to ensure that incarceration does not contribute to recidivism. Footnotes and 40 references