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Romania

Capital city — Bucharest

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Country-profile

Contact with the outside world

Visitation rights

All prisoners have the right to receive visits

yes

Prisoners with disciplinary sanctions can be deprived of receiving visitors for a maximum period of two months.

In order to obtain visiting rights, visitors must make an appointment by email or telephone with the prison facility concerned. They must present an official ID.

People eligible to visit

everyone

Anyone may visit a prisoner as long as they have an authorisation from the prison director.

There are dedicated rooms for visits.
Open visits take place in common halls with tables and chairs. They can last between 30 minutes and two hours. The number of visits allowed monthly mostly depends on the prison regime:

  • Prisoners under maximum security regimes can only receive three visits per month.
  • Prisoners under semi-open regimes closed or awaiting transfer can receive five visits per month.
  • Prisoners under open regimes can receive six visits per month.

Pregnant women, those imprisoned with their children and minors can receive up to eight visits per month.
Visitors cannot exceed two adults and two minors.
Two or more prisoners from the same family can receive the same visitors at the same time.1
Adult remand prisoners are entitled to four visits per month and minors to six visits per month, each lasting 30 minutes2.

  1. Articles 138 to 142 Prison Regulations (in Romanian). ↩

  2. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Report on the ad hoc visit to Romania carried out by the CPT from 10 to 21 May 2021”. ↩

Prisoners and visitors can meet without physical barriers

no

There is usually a physical barrier when untried prisoners or those under a maximum security or closed regime receive visitors. However, these persons can be allowed to receive visitors without barriers when authorised to do so by the prison director (for family reasons, in recompense for good behaviour, etc.).

Prisoners are allowed to receive visits from their children or minor relatives

yes

Visitors under 14 years old must be accompanied by an adult.
The space for mother-child visits in the women’s prison in Târgsor is furnished and equipped with toys. The walls are also painted.

Conjugal visits are allowed

yes

Prisoners who wish to receive conjugal visits must work first or take part in social-educational activities.
Those who received disciplinary sanctions within the last six months or have been granted exit permits within the last three cannot have conjugal visits.1

  1. Articles 145 to 147 Prison Regulations (in Romanian). ↩

Required conditions for conjugal visits

  • marriage
  • intimate partners

Conjugal visits are allowed every three months. Intimate partners are allowed a visit of three hours. Married couples can stay up to 48 hours.
In 2019, APADOR-CH visited several areas meant for conjugal visits. Most of these areas were in good material and hygienic conditions. They are equipped with bathrooms, televisions, refrigerators and sometimes telephones.
However, the association states that among the five prisons visited, the beds and sheets in Giurgiu and Galati prisons were in poor condition.1

  1. APADOR-CH, “Report on the visit to Giurgiu prison”, 27 March 2019; “Report on the visit to Galati prison”, 14 June 2019. ↩

  • In 2022, prisoners at the Gherla prison received 6,976 visits, among which were 561 three-hour conjugal visits and 32 48-hour visits for married couples.

    i
    25/02/2023
    / Gherlainfo

  • Throughout 2022, the Aiud maximum security prison allowed 3,660 visits for its prisoners. This included 196 three-hour conjugal visits and nine extended 48-hour visits for married couples.

    i
    21/02/2023
    / Alba 24

Every month, visitors can bring up to 10 kilogrammes of food items that do not require cooking, an additional six kilogrammes of fresh fruits and vegetables (except for lemons) and 20 litres of water or non-alcoholic beverages.
Relatives can also send prisoners clothes, televisions (subject to the approval of the prison director), small video games (with an inbuilt screen), musical instruments, religious objects, books and pictures.
The list of prohibited items can be found as an appendix to the prison regulations.

Prisoners should be incarcerated at a location close to their home. Prison facilities are located across different parts of the country, enabling prisoners to stay close to their families. This is not always the case for minors who are incarcerated in one of the four dedicated facilities. It is also the case for some prisoners, particularly in Sloboziade prison, who are unable to receive visits from family members due to the distance between them and the time and costs associated with travel.[^mnpa] [^mnpa]: People’s Advocate, “Activity Report 2021”, p. 57 (in Romanian).

Correspondence

Prisoners are allowed to exchange mail

yes

There is no limit to the amount of mail a prisoner may send.

Mail exchanged is subject to control

yes

A prison guard opens the letters without reading them in the presence of the prisoners. The date and the names of the sender and receiver are entered in a register.

Prisoners are allowed to receive parcels

yes

E-mail exchange is possible

yes, under certain conditions

Some prisoners are allowed to communicate via email and video calls. [See Telephone calls.]

Phone calls

Prisoners are allowed to make external phone calls

yes

Detainees have access to a telephone three times a week (five times for minors) for 10 to 30 minutes at a time. Most facilities allow 25-30 minute calls, while the Craiova facility only allows 10 minute calls[^cptb]1. In the Buzău pre-trial detention centre, detainees must make a written request to the prison management. The person’s details are entered into an application. A unique identification code is generated and the amount of money specified by the detainee is entered into the system. The detainee can only make a phone call to family members or their lawyer.2.

  1. Article 133, Prison Regulations (in Romanian). ↩

  2. People’s Advocate, “Activity Report 2021”, p. 50 (in Romanian). ↩

Prisoners are allowed to call

anyone

Prisoners may call up to ten local and/or foreign numbers. They have the right to contact relatives, a lawyer, a bailiff, a mediator, a diplomatic representative or third parties, subject to the agreement of the prison director.

The phones are located

  • in the cells
  • in the yard
  • in the corridors

Phone locations depend on the prison facility.
Almost all the cells visited by the CPT in 2021 were equipped with a telephone. The telephone booths located in the corridors and in the exercise yards remain operational1.
Telephones are placed in cells in Galati, Giurgiu and Craiova prisons.2
In Miercurea Ciuc, phones are placed in the yard.3 In Târgu Jiu, they are placed in the corridors.4
Phones placed in the corridors can be used by prisoners until 6:30 p.m., while the ones in cells can be used until 9 p.m. Corridors and cells do not allow for privacy during phone calls.

  1. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Report on the ad hoc visit to Romania carried out by the CPT from 10 to 21 May 2021”. ↩

  2. APADOR-CH, “Report on the Visit to Craiova prison”, 1 July 2019. ↩

  3. APADOR-CH, “Report on the Visit to Miercurea Ciuc prison”, 8 July 2019. ↩

  4. APADOR-CH, “Report on the Visit to Târgu Jiu prison”, 24 June 2019. ↩

  • In 2022, the Gherla prison had 173 telephone booths installed in the corridors.

    i
    25/02/2023
    / Gherlainfo

The cost of phone calls is in line with market prices

yes

Prisoners must load prepaid cards for phone calls.
Destitute prisoners can make free phone calls on a regular basis [^cpta]. Prisoners in Târgu Jiu prison complain about the telephone call rate of 0.53 lei per minute. The rate is higher than that of other prisons.[^report] [^cpta]: European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Report on the ad hoc visit to Romania carried out by the CPT from 10 to 21 May 2021”. [^report]: APADOR-CH, “Report on the Visit to Târgu Jiu prison“, April 2019.

Phones calls are wire tapped

no

Untried prisoners’ calls may be wiretapped.

The use of cell phones is authorised

no

Only prisoners under open regimes or with a professional duty outside the prison can have mobile phones. The phones must not have internet access.

Prisoners have access to video calls with external contacts

yes

Subject to the authorisation of the prison director, certain prisoners may be allowed by the prison service to communicate via email or video calls. The following persons are authorised:

  • persons staying in prisons that are far from their relatives
  • those taking part in social-educational activities, those working and those who show ‘good’ behaviour
  • minors
  • women Prisoners may make up to four video calls per months for a duration of 30 minutes. The conversation is confidential and takes place in a specially equipped area. It can be prolonged in case of exceptional family situations.1

  1. Articles 134 to 136 Prison Regulation (in Romanian). ↩

  • In 2022, the prisoners at the Gherla penitentiary facility made a total of 2,163 Skype calls.

    i
    25/02/2023
    / Gherlainfo