Pevkur: Prison Population Too High
Speaking at the 94th anniversary of the prison service, Justice Minister Hanno Pevkur said that the country's prison population of 3,300 is too large.
He cited a comparison with other European countries. The number of prisoners in Estonia has declined in recent years but not by enough, the minister said in a release.
"The Justice Ministry commissioned an audit of Estonian penal law, and under the supervision of University of Tartu professor Jaan Sootaki it is nearing completion. Practice shows that just putting a person in prison is not necessarily the best solution. A suitable penal and correctional system must reduce recidivism, which is too high in Estonia," said Pevkur.
Pevkur said the audit committee would wind up is job in the months ahead, and it would be apparent what the academic community's vision of modern Estonian penal law would be.
"One of the primary watchwords of the inquiry is balance of punishment. I hope that the solutions proposed by the committee are shaped into a bill, will make it to Parliament and into the rule of law."
Pevkur also said that prison officials' social benefits were not competitive with those of people working in other state structures. He said it was similar to working in the police force and thus Cabinet discussions held earlier this year on benefits for police officials should extend to prison wardens as well.