The Slovenian Prison System

Abstract

The Slovenian prison administration was established in 1995 to manage six prisons, which are separate facilities operating in 14 different locations, and one correctional home. Differentiation of imprisoned persons is in force based on gender, age, nature of the sentence, duration of the sentence, and degree of security. Despite the prioritization of a security component, a strong rehabilitation model is still present in the operation of the individual prisons. The Slovenian prison system has been challenged with an increasing prison population in recent years, which has caused overcrowding in several of the prisons. The prison population increased by more than 40% over the period 2005–2016. The structure of the prison population shows that prisoners sentenced for property crime present almost half of the prison population in Slovenia, followed by those who were sentenced for crimes against life and limb, and crimes against human health (mostly drug-related offenses). The number of prison workers increased by approximately 6% in the period 2005–2016. Prison officers present the largest group of prison workers in Slovenia (approximately 60%).