An inmate's right to complain
Belgium has already been condemned several times by the European Court of Human Rights as a result of prison living conditions. As recently as 2020, for example, our country was condemned for a detainee taking his own life.
The biggest issues are around the infrastructure of the prisons and the overpopulation of it. The current covid-19 crisis makes this issue even clearer; following the 1.5-meter rule is impossible to respect in practice due to the high number of detainees.
It has long been known that there is still much work to be done. Nevertheless, some initiatives are already underway to improve the living conditions of the detainees to improve.
For example, as of October 1, 2020, all inmates may have a file a formal complaint against a decision made by the prison warden.
This regulation should ensure that prisoners' rights are respected.
If a detainee is in the belief that his rights were violated, he can file a complaint with the impartial and independent Complaints Commission.
In addition, this complaint committee will produce reports on the volume of complaints; a prison where there are significantly fewer complaints will score better in terms of conflict prevention.
The right to complain is a nice first step, but certainly not enough.
Consequently, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne stated last week that part of the 125 million euros that will be extra invested in justice this year will be used to remedy the problems prevailing in prisons.
