Country

Estonia

Detention issue

FRA research findings

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Legal instruments & key provisions

Legal instrument Key provision
Imprisonment Act (Vangistusseadus)It is possible to commission a prisoner to a punishment cell up to 45 consecutive twenty-four hour periods. Only one disciplinary penalty may be imposed for the commission of one and the same disciplinary offence. It is prohibited to impose collective disciplinary penalties. In the case of a serious violation of discipline, the prison service has the right to place the disciplinary offender in a separate cell prior to the termination of disciplinary proceedings.

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM RECOMMENDATIONS

Year Recommendation Report
2019The Chancellor of Justice (Õiguskantsler) inspected two punishment cells in Viru Prison in 2019: There is no sink in either cell and the location of the water tap does not guarantee basic hygiene. Water poured and sprayed from the tap to the floor of the cell and on the bedding. There is not enough natural light in the cells and there is no storage space for detainees. Please remedy these shortcomings in order to ensure the lawful treatment of people. Report details
2021After an inspection visit to Tartu Prison, the Chancellor of Justice outlined the necessity of regularly monitoring the health of persons in solitary confinement and providing them with meaningful communication: The health care expert involved in the visit determined that there were no specially appointed staff in the prison and no procedure for monitoring the health of persons in solitary confinement. A medical officer of the prison should assess the condition of all people in solitary confinement on a daily basis. Prisons should ensure meaningful communication for detainees in solitary confinement for at least two hours a day. To this end, all staff, and in particular the guards who have the closest contact with detainees, must apply the dynamic security principles in their daily work. Prison management should provide the necessary training and guidance to staff. Report details
2021In Tartu Prison, solitary confinement is imposed on prisoners serving a disciplinary punishment in a disciplinary cell [...], as well as those staying in an isolated locked cell on security considerations [...]. In practice, essentially all remand prisoners and inmates held under the reception regime under § 8(4) of the Internal Prison Rules are also in solitary confinement. The majority of inmates subject to the reception regime stayed in a locked cell for approximately three months, which is also the longest period admissible under § 14(4) of the Imprisonment Act. Under those regimes, people are socially isolated, there is little or no activity outside the cell, and their physical environment is poorer in comparison to other inmates. Report details
2021A prison healthcare professional should assess the condition of everyone in solitary confinement on a daily basis. The prison should ensure at least two hours of meaningful interaction a day for convicted and remand prisoners held in solitary confinement. For this, all staff, in particular guards who have the closest contact with prisoners, must apply the principles of dynamic security in their everyday work. The prison management should organise the necessary training for staff and provide them the relevant instructions for work. Report details
2022The prison should draw up detailed guidelines to assess the need for placement in an isolated locked cell. The guidance should also clearly set out that directives on applying a measure must clearly indicate that the measure is to be discontinued immediately after the underlying circumstances for it cease to exist but in any case the necessity to continue the measure is to be reviewed after a specific interval (advisably not less often than once a month). The guidelines should also direct prison officers and staff to take steps with a view to releasing a person from solitary confinement as soon as possible. This could be ensured by having an individual action plan for return from solitary confinement prepared for everyone held in an isolated locked cell (in particular those who have been committed to solitary confinement because they pose a danger to others and/or themselves). A directive containing a decision to continue the application of an isolated locked cell must also set out the events that took place during the assessment period, including any interventions by the prison written in the individual treatment plan, and the results of those interventions. Report details
2022The prison should ensure at least two hours of meaningful interaction a day for convicted and remand prisoners held in solitary confinement. Meaningful interaction must take place directly without any physical barriers (e.g. a food hatch, or the like) and enable empathetic human contact. Such interaction may take place during out-of-cell activities with other inmates, as well as by meeting with a person’s next of kin, or officers or staff of the medical unit. To ensure meaningful interaction, all staff – and in particular guards who have the closest contact with prisoners – must apply the principles of dynamic security in their everyday work. The prison management should organise the necessary training for staff and provide them the relevant instructions for work”. Report details
2023Without exception, all remand prisoners are locked in their cell round the clock (except for the possibility of exercise for one hour in the fresh air). This does not enable taking into account the interests of criminal proceedings at a particular point in time or the fact that the reason for remand in custody might not necessarily be the mere need to prevent compromising criminal proceedings. Report details