Europe’s JUSTICE ministries have a problem. Courts are locking up more criminals, but figuring out where to put them is proving tricky. In a growing number of countries, prisons are packed to the rafters. Occupancy levels now average close to 95% in the European Union; they exceed 100% in nearly half the bloc, mainly in western Europe. Beyond the EU, the trend is similar. Even in Switzerland and Iceland, which boast some of the lowest crime rates in the world, jails look uncomfortably full, thanks to lengthier sentences. Britain’s are bursting. Building new prisons is expensive, slow and provokes resistance from the NIMBY crowd.
Europe’s JUSTICE ministries have a problem. Courts are locking up more criminals, but figuring out where to put them is proving tricky. In a growing number of countries, prisons are packed to the rafters. Occupancy levels now average close to 95% in the European Union; they exceed 100% in nearly half the bloc, mainly in western Europe. Beyond the EU, the trend is similar. Even in Switzerland and Iceland, which boast some of the lowest crime rates in the world, jails look uncomfortably full, thanks to lengthier sentences. Britain’s are bursting. Building new prisons is expensive, slow and provokes resistance from the NIMBY crowd.
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