Overcrowding
Crises
Europe
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Belgium
Staff and management at all Belgian prisons will protest against overcrowding in front of prison buildings. “The prison crisis is unprecedented, and prisons are crying out for help,” said the prison administration.
Africa
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
South Sudan
State lawmakers in Western Equatoria visited Yambio Central Prison, urging immediate government action to address what they described as severe overcrowding, critical shortages of food and medicine, and inadequate conditions for incarcerated people with infectious diseases.
North America
Women
Material conditions
Overcrowding
United States
With Vermont’s prisons reaching capacities they haven’t hit since the onset of COVID-19, Vermont Department of Corrections officials are grappling with how to handle the influx of people incarcerated.
Europe
Drugs
Overcrowding
Violence
United Kingdom
A report has said staffing levels at a prison are having a negative impact on incarcerated people welfare and progression.
South America
Material conditions
Protest
Overcrowding
Bolivia
Incarcerated people climbed onto the roof holding pot lids and signs, shouting slogans about hunger as they called for better conditions.
Africa
Drugs
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
South Africa
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) member of Parliament (MP), Betty Diale, has called for urgent action to fix broken correctional services. According to Diale, the correctional services system is exposed to overcrowding, collapsing infrastructure, rampant gangsterism and contraband smuggling.
Pre-trial detention
Oceania
Mental health
Suicide
Overcrowding
Australia
Overcrowded cells break people — prison suicides linked to worsening mental illness and disrupted sleep are infrastructural failures, writes Gerry Georgatos.
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Overcrowding
United Kingdom
The number of people in Scotland’s prisons has risen back above the level which sparked the early release of hundreds of incarcerated people to free up space.
Europe
Facilities
Overcrowding
United Kingdom
Prisons in England reached a crisis point under the last government as “tough on crime” policies led to overcrowding after decades of structural failings and entrenched issues.
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Drugs
Overcrowding
Activities
Social ties
Work
United Kingdom
Staff corruption is a “major problem” at an overcrowded West London prison where over a third of incarcerated people are testing positive for illegal drugs, prison inspectors have found.
Europe
Drugs
Material conditions
Facilities
Overcrowding
Violence
Ireland
The Prison Officers Association (POA) has said the overcrowding crisis within Irish prisons has deepened even further this year. The service has published its annual report for 2024, in which it highlights the urgent need for expanded capacity amid mounting challenges that it faces.
Africa
Health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Sudan
A statement from the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) laments that that the prison is currently overcrowded with poor sanitation and limited access to food, clean water, and healthcare – conditions under which diseases, particularly cholera, can run rampant.
Europe
Mental health
Material conditions
Overcrowding
Work
Cyprus
Alexandros Clerides, said that the government must be held accountable for the chronic overcrowding in Cyprus’ prisons, which currently operate at 200 per cent capacity.
Pre-trial detention
Europe
Overcrowding
United Kingdom
Legislation that will include Texas-style scheme to shorten jail time expected to be rolled out this year.
Central America and the Caribbean
Pre-trial detention
Overcrowding
Trinidad & Tobago
General Secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA), Lester Logie, is raising an alarm over the country’s prison system, noting that nearly two-thirds of the incarcerated population is made up of remand—individuals awaiting trial who have not been convicted of any crime.
Africa
Pre-trial detention
Overcrowding
Alternatives
Nigeria
Prison Fellowship Nigeria (PFN) has advocated the adoption of restorative justice as a critical solution to decongest correctional centres across the country.
Central America and the Caribbean
Facilities
Overcrowding
Costa Rica
Costa Rica will begin construction this year on a new maximum-security prison inspired by the El Salvador mega-prison at the center of that country’s crackdown on crime, Costa Rica’s Justice Minister Gerald Campos said.
Europe
Foreign prisoners
Overcrowding
United Kingdom
The prison population of England and Wales has jumped to the highest number in nearly a year and is nearing record levels, despite the early release of tens of thousands, official figures show.
Europe
Health
Overcrowding
Violence
United Kingdom
The data, covering April 2024 to March 2025, shows that nearly half (49.6%) of prisons in England and Wales were rated as a concern or serious concern for overall performance.