There are two penal institutions for women in Portugal:

• the Tires prison
• the Santa Cruz do Bispo prison

Four institutions have designated units for women:

• the Angra Heroísmo prison
• the de Guarda prison
• the Ponta Delgada prison
• the São João de Deus hospital-prison

Frisking of female prisoners is performed by female prison staff.

Women’s specific needs, such as access to sanitary products and to gynaecological consultations, are met.

Women prisoners have access to activities, to training, and to work opportunities.

Prisoners with children are allocated a separate living space to other prisoners.

Supervisory staff who work in areas designed for children wear uniforms.

The specific needs of children – food, clothes, healthcare, activities – are met by the penal authorities.

The law provides for the placement of the minor in an educational centre (minors aged 12 to 16) or incarceration (from 16 years of age).

The environments for juvenile offenders vary depending on the severity of the offence committed:

• Open environment: the juvenile offender is permitted to leave the educational centre alone, within previously agreed hours. S/he may meet his/her family at weekends and may enjoy 15 consecutive days of holiday.
• Semi-open environment: the juvenile offender is permitted to leave the educational centre, accompanied by a caseworker. S/he is not permitted to return home at weekends. S/he enjoys 15 consecutive days of holiday.
• Closed environment: the juvenile offender is not permitted to leave the educational centre.

A single institution – the Leiria “school prison” – houses only juvenile offenders aged 16 years and older, and young adults up to the age of 21 years. 347 places are available. In this institution the length of a sentence may be extended until the offender reaches the age of 25 years. Admission to this institution is not accompanied by legal obligations on the part of the staff team.

The decision whether to admit a juvenile offender to the Leiria prison or to an adult prison rests entirely at the discretion of the DGRSP. As a result, juvenile offenders are not necessarily separated from adult offenders [^8]¹. A juvenile offender aged between 12 and 16 years who has committed an offence receives educational interventions. Such offenders are housed in an educational centre, and may be placed there at any point up until the age of 21 years ². There are eight educational centres in Portugal:

• Bela Vista educational centre
• Navarro de Paiva F educational centre
• Navarro de Paiva M educational centre
• Olivais educational centre
• Padre António Oliveira educational centre
• Santa Clara F educational centre
• Santa Clara M educational centre
• Santo António educational centre[^centres]

The general and disciplinary regulations of the educational centres, which date from the 20 December 2000, constitute the legal basis of the organisation, of the authority and of the operations of these centres. Each centre, however, has its own specific regulations. [^8]: European Monitoring Centre for Prisons “Prison Conditions in Portugal”, 2013, p29.

Specific activities are provided for minors in educational centres. A case management guide, designed according to the RNR (Risk-Need-Responsivity) model, is provided to each caseworker. PEP (Personal Educational Project) programmes are established in educational centres ¹ and allow better monitoring and evaluation of educational interventions. The juvenile offender follows their programme on a voluntary (unpaid) basis. The programmes may consist of a medical project, a collaborative project with children’s activity centres, or even a practical project to learn a manual trade.

Whilst in prison, juvenile offenders also benefit from several other educational projects, some of which are mandatory and which are provided in all centres. These are:

• programme for re-adaptation and for prevention of future deviant behaviour;
• life skills training programme;
• suicide prevention programme;
• drugs prevention programme.

Each educational centre also develops its own particular projects ².

Support in the workplace, in training and in socio-educational activities is provided when the juvenile offender leaves the educational centre. In 2017, the rate of reintegration into society was 76.3% ³.

The foreign nationalities that are most represented in the Portuguese prisons are Cape Verdean, Brazilian, Angolan and Romanian.

In principle, foreigners in unofficial or illegal situations are not imprisoned. Remaining on Portuguese territory in such a situation does not constitute an offence. As part of a deportation process, the foreigner in question can be placed in a holding centre. A judge must make a decision on whether or not this is appropriate.

Foreign prisoners are allowed to call home if they get permission from the warden and cover their own cost. The party contacted must have been identified and authorised beforehand by the facility director who can always use his/her discretion to decide how these calls are carried out.

Visits can be arranged for visitors who have to come from long distances from the prison by obtaining permission from either the warden of the facility or the DGRSP.

People condemned to a long sentence do not have a specific detention regime.

The Law of 29 August 2007 reforms the framework and limits the length of provisional detention. The maximum length of detention varies according to the circumstances. Generally speaking, temporary custody cannot exceed 18 months. This period can be extended to two years when the offences are linked to terrorism, organised crime, or crimes punishable by a prison sentence of more than eight years. The length of provisional detention can be extended up to three years in the case of particularly complex offences, implicating several individuals and in limited cases (article 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code).

The regime for the person placed in pre-trial detention is in the texts the same as for those who are convicted. They enjoy the same rights. The judge who orders pre-trial detention can - in the interests of the investigation or in the interests of security - decide to limit the number of visits or of phone calls. Only the judge is authorised to modify the regime of pre-trial detention of prisoners awaiting trial.

People of certain religious or ethnic groups are not subject to a particular detention regime.

No particular protection is provided for LGBTI persons. A more general protection exists for vulnerable persons.

Older people do not enjoy a specific detention regime. However, penitentiary establishments are organised into units by age group.

Elderly persons benefit from a suspended sentence from the age of 70 if their state of physical or mental health is incompatible with incarceration, or if they are no longer capable of comprehending the meaning of the sentence they are serving. The measure is only implemented in the case of serious, terminal and irreversible illnesses.