Reflection on prisons in a democracy challenges us to look beyond the prison space, considering both the sentencing system, the political and legal processes that regulate the condition of prisoners and their return to the free environment (housing, security, protection, health, education, training, relations with the outside world), and their practical application. The “old” problem of prison overcrowding poses particular challenges for public policies and the sentencing system. It is essential to reflect on the policies of criminalisation/decriminalisation of conduct and the extent to which the sentencing system and/or its application are excessively transferring problems that require other political and social measures to the criminal field.

In terms of the prison system, while it is true that the public policies aimed at it are geared towards social reintegration, the various diagnoses of the Portuguese prison system continue to show structural weaknesses in various areas, from infrastructure, human, material, and financial resources, to health, education, and training. The recurrent condemnation of the Portuguese state by the European Court of Human Rights as a result of incarceration conditions indicates these weaknesses. The Permanent Observatory of Justice of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra developed the study “Towards a reform of the prison system - the case of the application of the Statute of the Prison Guard Corps”, whose diagnosis also shows the complex situation in which the Portuguese prison system finds itself.

This series of Meetings seeks to reflect in an integrated way on the problems and challenges surrounding the prison system and, consequently, on the ‘best’ strategic agenda for reforming the prison system.