PNN – In order to solve the chronic overcrowding crisis in the country’s penitentiaries, the government of the British party, in addition to pursuing two plans for early release and transferring criminals abroad, is trying to implement a new plan to make punishments outside of prison more difficult.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, British Justice Minister Shabaneh Mahmoud handed over the revision of the country’s judicial system to his predecessor David Gok from the Conservative Party and said that in this project, while examining solutions to intensify punishments outside of prison, it will be ensured that there is enough capacity to keep dangerous prisoners. He added that the English judicial system is paralyzed and the punishments are not compatible with the conditions of the 21st century.
On the other hand, 1,100 prisoners who have served 40% of their sentences are scheduled to be released in a few hours as part of the government’s plan to empty overcrowded prisons. The plan for the early release of prisoners was implemented last September in order to make room for new criminals. The first phase of the implementation of this plan, which faced a negative reaction from the British society, was implemented on September 10th, and based on it, 1,700 prisoners were released.
According to the latest statistics, 88,521 British people are in prison and there are less than 2,000 vacancies in prisons across the country. It is expected that this capacity will reach a critical point by the summer of next year.
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised that those involved in the recent anti-immigrant riots will be tried and imprisoned. This is while crime statistics are increasing in England and there is not enough space to transfer convicts to prison.
The transfer of prisoners to Estonia is one of the other projects that the British government is currently discussing in this field. The Minister of Justice of Estonia told the London Telegraph in the same link: Britain and Estonia have a history of successful international cooperation, and such cooperation creates more opportunities to benefit and learn from each other.
British government officials also say that they are following this plan seriously considering the deplorable state of the country’s prisons. But firstly, the implementation of this plan needs the approval of the Estonian parliament, and secondly, critics in England believe that by transferring prisoners, only a few hundred cells will be opened to receive new people.
This plan was proposed last year by Alex Chuck, the former British Minister of Justice, at the Conservative Party conference, but it was not pursued due to the high costs of the project. The Labor Party, which has taken the helm of the British government since last July, was against this plan under the pretext of mismanagement by the conservatives, but now it seems that it has reconsidered.
According to reports, last month the capacity of men’s prisons in England was almost completed and only 83 cells remained empty. It is predicted that the total population of British prisons will reach 106,000 from 89,000 by 2027.