Prison reform to split operational and rehab aspects of administration

The Ministry for Justice, Home Affairs and National Security is contemplating a major overhaul of the entire administrative structure of the Corradino Correctional Facility in Paola, which may remove significant sections of the prison's management from the direct control of the Malta Police Force.

A ministry spokesman confirmed yesterday that the Board of Review, appointed last week after a surprise visit to the facility by Minister Emmanuel Mallia revealed serious lapses in security, will consider recommendations to keep the prison autonomous and independent of the police.

Some of these recommendations were included in a report commissioned by the ministry three years ago, but never implemented.

"We do not agree that the prison should be run directly by the police," the spokesman said, echoing calls for reform by prisoners' rights organsiation Mid Dlam ghad-Dawl (MDD). "Among the possibilities we are currently looking into is a proposal for a dual administrative set-up, in which two distinct persons will be appointed to run the operational/administrative side of things on one hand, and the correctional aspect of prison management on the other."

It is not excluded that the former role, which will be responsible for discipline in prison and the day-to-day operational management - including surveillance, spot-checks and controls for drugs, as well as direct responsibility for prison warders - may be retained by a 'serviceman' hand-picked from either the police or the Armed Forces.

But if the recommendations are taken on board (a distinct possibility, according to the minister's chief of staff) a separate role will be created to oversee and implement a correctional policy tailored for individual inmates.

"We are looking into the possibility of appointing a foreign expert with the right qualifications for this job, though nothing has been decided as yet."

Calls for a reform of the prison administration have been rife in recent years, especially after revelations in 2011 of a fully-fledged drug trafficking network operating directly from a cell in the female section.

In delivering judgment in that case, Judge Michael Mallia alluded to the possibility that members of the prison staff may have been directly involved in the criminal operation.

More discirplinary problems emerged from Minister Mallia's surprise visit last week. The inspection revealed that four warders had already left for home when their shift was supposed to terminate at 9pm. A staff punch clock installed at the CCF administration was not being used, and the minister was informed that it was common practice for warders to leave work early, "sometimes with seven or eight less officers left on duty".

There were reported cases of warders going home as early as 1pm, when their shift would last till 9pm.

Prison director Abraham, Zammit handed in his resignation following reports of this incident.

A ministry official yesterday confirmed that further inspections carried out in the wake of Mallia's surprise visit on Sunday 7 April  have since revealed further administrative problems as well as other serious lapses in security.

It transpired that dogs used to detect drugs in prison had become the inmates' pets: fed by prisoners in the absence of permanent dog-handing staff. Other issues concerned basic security issues beyond the already known issue of inadequate staff presence on site: details however had to be withheld for fear of precipitating further problems, including escape attempts.

More details of the prison reform will be made public in May, once the results of the Board of Inquiry launched by the minister last week are in hand, and after a separate Board of Review concludes its ongoing assessment of various reform proposals.