Presentation by I.Kronberga, PROVIDUS reseracher, in Criminology Conference on Crime and Punishment in the Baltic Region, which was held from October 21-23, 2011 in Vilnius. The conference was organised by the Lithuanian Society of Criminology together with the University of Vilnius, Institute of Law and the Centre Crime Prevention in Lithuania. PROVIDUS pētnieces I.Kronbergas prezentācija Baltijas kriminologu konferencē, kas norisinājās 2010.gada 21.-23.okotbrī Viļņā. Konferenci organizēja Lietuvas kriminologu sabiedrība kopā ar Viļņas Universitāti, Tiesību institūtu un Lietuvas Noziegumu prevencijas centru.

1. LATVIAN PRISON SYSTEM –
THE PROSPECTS FOR FUTURE
DEVELOPMENT
Ilona Kronberga
Centre for Public Policy

2. Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS: Ilona Kronberga
―One of the most amazing things about
prisons is that they ‗work‘ at all….‖
Cressey, D. (ed.) (1961). The Prison: Studies in Institutional Organization.
NY: Holt, Rinehart, Winston (p.2).

3. Brief background information on
prisons in Latvia

4. Today there are 11 prisons and one
correctional institution for juveniles in Latvia
Total number of inmates is ~6900
but in the beginning of this year was 7055

5. Location of inmates in prisons
• Correctional institution for juveniles - 1,4 %
• Open prisons - 3,0 %
• Semi-closed prisons - 13,3 %
• Closed prisons - 54,1 %
• Investigative prisons - 28,2 %

6. Released in 2009 year
Total number - 2511 including:
– after the end of the sentence period – 1892
– before the end of the sentence period – 600
– released owing to hard illness - 11
– released owing to amnesty - 8

7. The challenges we face in our
prison system
• Education and employment of inmates;
• Prison infrastructure, including new
facilities;
• Minors and young people in prisons;
• Necessity for a new legal framework for
enforcement of sentences - new Sentence
Enforcement Law;
• Seriously evaluated reform of prison
personnel.

8. From a legal point of view the prison environment is very
sensitive:
―…every instance of brutality in prisons,
every casual racist joke and demeaning
remark, every ignored petition, every
unwarranted bureaucratic delay, every
inedible meal, every arbitrary decision to
segregate or transfer without giving clear
and unfounded reasons, every petty
miscarriage of justice, every futile and
inactive period of time — is delegitimating‖
Sparks, R. and Bottoms, A.E. (1995). ‘Legitimacy and Order in Prisons’,
The British Journal of Sociology, 46, 1, 45-62 (p.60).

9. We have to reform education and
employment systems for inmates
The educational process in prisons is
organized in line with ―Education Policy
Guidelines for Inmates 2006 – 2012‖
68,3% of all inmates are aged 22 - 40

10. ...to reform education and
employment systems for inmates
Among convicted persons there are many
people who have a low level of general
education. For example - lower than 23%
of convicts do not have any elementary
education.

11. Employment of inmates is one of
the most intricate tasks
• 1 141 inmates were employed in 2009. 632 of
them have worked in the prisons crew. 509
working places for convicts were set up by
businessmen. The average employment rate
during the year was 23% of all working-aged.
• 1379 inmates were employed in 2008. 711 of
them have worked in the prisons crew. 671
working places for convicts were set up by
businessmen. The average employment rate
during the year was 24% of all working-aged.

12. Inmates employment...
In 2008 the Ministry of Justice drafted
the concept paper to establish a new
employment system for inmates.

13. Ministry of Justice is going to
establish new regulatory
approaches for:
• legal status of inmates, stating that prisoners who are
employed are a special category of employed
persons;
• legal status of employers according to the type of
prisons in which they work;
• determination of differences for employment of the
convicted persons, forms and framework of the
cooperation between merchants and prisons
administration;

14. Ministry of Justice is going to
establish new regulatory
approaches for:
• wages for inmates;
• forms of inmates employment, to ensure for them
the acquisition of vocation which helps in the job
market after release from prison;
• social guarantee for the employed prisoners,
including the release from prison etc.

15. ...some thoughts...
• Penal reformers support the idea that
prison has not always been the answer,
but ministers in private often agreed, that it
seems nothing will ever change.
• Nowadays, everything happens in prisons,
except what there should be.
• I love the Lord because He loves our
prisons indeed, because otherwise they
would not exist.

16. We should significantly improve prison
infrastructure, including new premises (cells) for
inmates
• On 20.03.2007 in Cabinet of Ministers considered the
informative report of Ministry of Justice about the
shortcomings and their whys and wherefores in prisons, in
order to plan the work and to take the possible decisions to
eliminate the shortages.
• On 03.04.2008 a conception of development of prison
infrastructure was announced in the Meeting of the State
Secretaries.
• The main goal of the concept is to draft a new prison
system where it is possible to provide effective sentence
enforcement as well as to offer better solutions of
attracting finances for building of new prison and in that
way providing electivity of sentence enforcement and
increasing public safety of dangers when the system of
prisons is unsafe.

17. To improve prison infrastructure at the
moment
Ministry of Justice has again set up a new version of prison
infrastructure concept which provides for:
• drafting a prison system based on new principles;
• only one new prison construction (DBO-project) for 1000
inmates;
• project investments: ~ 70 million lats in 30 years period
including risk costs, infrastructure operating costs and
costs of reconstruction in this period.
The Ministry of Justice intends to submit this project to the
government in these days.

18. We should keep out of prison minors and
young people as long as possible, but if
they are in prison, it is a priority target group
Latvia:
Juveniles (percentage of prison population) 2.1% Prison population
rate (per 100,000 of national population) 314 based on an estimated
national population of 2.25 million at beginning of 2010 (from
Eurostat figures)
Estonia: Juveniles = 1.0%
Finland: = 0.1%
Russia: = 0.9%
Romania: = 1.7%
Belarus: = 1,2%
Poland: = 0,6%
Ukraine: = 1,0%

19. Necessity for a new legal
framework for enforcement of
sentences
• entered into force 01.04.1971
• was established 23.12.1970

20. The personnel reform
―While the prison system was transferred from the Ministry
of Interior to the Ministry of Justice in 2000, in 2007 the
prison system remains significantly militarised with
soviet style military management. Moreover, since
2006 the Prison Service ceased to be part of civil
service. Directors of the 15 prisons, deputies and heads
of service are officers, as about third of staff and ranks
remain the same as with the police and border
guards.‖[1]
[1] Latvia, Shadow Report to the UN Committee against Torture; October 2007; Latvian Centre for Human Rights
(page 14).

21. We should carry out seriously a well-
considered personnel reform, including
establishment of the education system
for prison officials
We have often faced situations when we can say...
..a prison environment provides considerable
opportunity for the capricious and arbitrary
exercise of power, and for authorities to act
based on personal prejudice and implicit bias
However, if people realize their mission...
...power - is an obligation, but freedom –
responsibility, and so it has always been

22. We will make the
changes together!
Thank you!
Ilona Kronberga,
Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS
ilona@providus.lv