Open prison

An open prison (open jail) is an informal description applied to any penal establishment in which the prisoners are trusted to serve their sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are not locked up in prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employment while serving their sentence.

In the UK, open prisons are often part of a rehabilitation plan for prisoners moved from closed prisons.^[1] They may be designated "training prisons" and are only for prisoners considered a low risk to the public.

The idea of an open prison is often criticised by members of the public and politicians.^[2] However, prisoners do not have complete freedom and are only allowed to leave the premises for specific purposes, such as going to an outside job.^[3]

Notable open prisons

• HM Prison Prescoed, Monmouthshire, South Wales.
• HM Prison Ford, Ford, West Sussex, England.
• Yerwada Open Jail, in Yerwada, Pune, Maharashtra.
• HM Prison Castle Huntly, Longforgan, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
• Vardashen, Nubarashen, Yerevan, Armenia
• HM Prison Blantyre House, Goudhurst, Kent

Offener Vollzug in Germany

In Germany the "Offener Vollzug" is part of the rehabilitation process for about 16% of prisoners.^[4]

See also

• Prison security categories in the United Kingdom
• House arrest

References

1. UK Government: Types of prison and security categories
2. Philip Davies, "It is completely ludicrous that a serving life-sentence prisoner is even in an open prison", BBC, 05 May 2014
3. Erwin James, "Why life in an open prison is no holiday camp", The Guardian, 13 January 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2012
4. Justizvollzug: Strafgefangene nach Geschlecht, Alter und Art des Vollzugs, voraussichtliche Vollzugsdauer from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany