The Parliamentary Ombudsman has decided to start an investigation of the possibilities for Western Prison inmates to have visitors.
In connection with the investigation, the Ombudsman asks the authorities to give an account of the following, among other things:
- Whether the visiting capacity at Western Prison can be considered sufficient
- Whether there are conditions of a structural nature in the Prison that makes it difficult to ensure that the inmates can receive visits
- The prioritisation of convicted prisoners over remand prisoners when scheduling visits
- The possibility for defence lawyers to visit their clients in the Prison
- Initiatives to improve the system for booking visits, including the introduction of for instance a digital booking system.
The Ombudsman carries out his investigation following his unannounced monitoring visit to Western Prison in September 2024. One of the purposes of the monitoring visit was exactly to look into the inmates’ possibilities of receiving visits from their relatives.
In this context, the Ombudsman has previously received a number of complaints from inmates and their relatives about visiting conditions at Western Prison. In connection with the monitoring visit, several inmates had expressed their dissatisfaction with the possibilities of arranging visits at the Prison. In connection with the monitoring visit, the Ombudsman has given recommendations on improvement of the conditions for visits by relatives, but he also finds cause for initiating an own-initiative investigation of the visiting conditions at Western Prison.
Own initiative
The Ombudsman carries out his investigation on his own initiative, cf. Section 17(2) of the Parliamentary Ombudsman Act, which allows him to carry out general investigations of an authority’s case processing on his own initiative.
He has directed his questions to both the Department of Prisons and Probation, the Area Office of the Prison and Probation Service East and Western Prison and asked to receive statements from the three authorities by 11 April 2025 at the latest.
Read about the Ombudsman’s letter to the Department of Prisons and Probation (in Danish only).
Previous investigations of the visiting conditions (in Danish only).
Further details:
Director of International Relations, Klavs Kinnerup Hede, kkh@ombudsmanden.dk