Dutch Government Reduces Prison Capacity

The Hague, Netherlands — The Ministry of Justice is planning to further reduce the number of prison cells as the Dutch government continues the first reduction in corrections capacity for 25 years.

The rated capacity of the national corrections system, excluding jail and Temporary Special Facilities Directorate beds, stood at more than 16,000 cells, according to the most recent data from the National Agency of Correctional Institutions.

However, the number of inmates has decreased by about 20 percent since 2005 to leave approximately 4,000 cells, or 25 percent of system capacity, currently unused, officials say.

With four prisons fully or partially closed by NACI during 2007, not all of the current 4,000 unoccupied cells will be eliminated, officials say.

The decrease in the inmate population follows the introduction of a 2001 law that permits judges to hand down community service sentences in place of custodial sanctions for a range of nonviolent offenses, experts say.