Prison systems have overcome challenges posed by the pandemic
Member States have made every effort to protect the health of the prison population as well as of professionals in institutions, their families and the rest of the community, the Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services concluded.
Deputy Minister of Justice, Mário Belo Morgado
Speaking at the closing session of the event, which took place in the city of Funchal, Madeira, the Deputy Minister of Justice highlighted the low number of positive cases of COVID-19 registered in the Portuguese Prison System to date (only nine), as well as the absence of any death as a result of the pandemic.
Since the beginning of the pandemic situation, there are 1,916 recovered cases, 586 of which are from staff, 1,308 from inmates and 20 from young people interned in Educational Centres. "All situations of outbreak of the disease were resolved in a timely manner and with the services' own health means," stressed Mário Belo Morgado.
Regarding vaccination, he reinforced the data shared the day before by the Minister of Justice, stating that the vaccination rate for prison staff reached 87.5% and the vaccination rate for prisoners being already above 91%.
"These results are due to the strategies defined by the State institutions and to the high effort and professionalism of all those involved, which we are very pleased to note and which cannot be overestimated", pointed out the Deputy Minister of Justice.
Mário Belo Morgado also mentioned the challenges associated with users suffering from mental illness, highlighting the creation of a working group, between the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health, with the purpose of monitoring the enforcement of the legislation and to ensure the articulation of the two ministries, with a view to the fastest and most efficient overcoming of the problems that daily practice reveals.
This Working Group has already produced several documents, namely technical intervention models and guidelines, which will contribute to increase the quality and objectivity of the treatment and rehabilitation process of citizens under security measures, as well as the operating model of the mental health units dedicated to the enforcement of security measures, documents which are in the approval phase.
At the level of knowledge and treatment of persons convicted of sexual crimes, the Deputy Minister of Justice underlined the "utmost importance" that the recommendations and good presented, in terms of treatment and rehabilitation of sex offenders, have for all Member States.
"This is an extremely complex issue, not only in terms of rehabilitation programmes, but also in terms of strategies for monitoring and mitigating the impact of crime on the victims of these crimes, most of which are permanent and incapacitating. But we cannot fail to do everything within our reach. We owe it to the victims and to the families affected by this horror".
Mário Belo Morgado referred that in Portugal a remarkable effort has been made in what concerns the treatment and rehabilitation of sexual offenders. A Rehabilitation Programme with more than 10 years of experience is being applied in the prison context, which has recently been adapted to the community context, where it will also be applied to all the convicted persons returned to their freedom, subject to the obligation - imposed by the Court - of attending this programme.
This is a cognitive and behavioural programme, inspired by the international "RNR - Risk, Needs, Responsivity" model, which is in line with the most recent international scientific and theoretical developments on the subject.
Like other fundamental projects - such as the Programme for Domestic Violence Offenders and the Rehabilitation Programme for Arsonists - this programme is decentralised throughout the national territory, based on four regional poles, which allows it to cover an increasing number of people convicted of these types of crimes.
Artificial Intelligence applied to the enforcement of sentences and judicial measures
The opportunity to debate the advantages and opportunities opened by the use of artificial intelligence tools in the enforcement of sentences and judicial measures was of special interest to all, said the Deputy Minister of Justice, "including the Portuguese Ministry of Justice, which has paid a lot of attention to these issues, with the aim of making the system more agile, effective, efficient and close to the citizen, although we are well aware of the special demands of security, supervision and control that are required in this area".
Mário Belo Morgado considers that the impact indicators of the use of these technologies are "diverse and promising", not only in terms of efficiency in the use of resources and cost reduction, but also in the reduction of critical incidents inside the prisons.
"There are more and more publications dedicated to the subject, while pilot experiences and research projects that produce very encouraging results are proliferating. We are therefore increasingly equipped with the necessary knowledge to, with the indispensable security, make the political decisions that will allow us to follow the paths of an increasingly digital future".
In Portugal, the Directorate General for Reintegration and Prison Services has joined a project funded by a system of incentive and development of technological systems, involving a Portuguese University and other partners.
This innovation and development project aims to investigate and develop a technological solution to support the management of activities and information generated during the period of enforcement of a sentence or judicial measure, capitalising on this information, using artificial intelligence technologies.