Relocation of prisoners

In the given case, the Defender criticised the fact that the Nové Sedlo Prison had been preventing the complainant’s relocation on the grounds that he was, or was expected to be, assigned to work in that prison. In one of these cases, the application for relocation was dismissed by the Nové Sedlo Prison without any substantiation.

An identical case related to the Nové Sedlo Prison (dismissal of an application for relocation substantiated by the assignment to work) was addressed also by the previous Defender. Both cases indicate that the Nové Sedlo Prison has been systematically preventing prisoners’ relocation on the grounds of their assignment to work. This is so despite the fact that prisoners can also be assigned to work in the prison to which they are relocated and, in both cases, the complainants were employed before in other prisons. Thus, it is not reasonable to assume that they would avoid work or otherwise refuse assignment to work.

The Defender reached the conclusion during her investigation of the complaint that a prison may not prevent prisoners’ relocation to a different prison on the grounds of their current or planned assignment to work. This is all the more so where it is obvious that the applicant for relocation has not been avoiding work during the service of his imprisonment.

Only in exceptional cases may an application for relocation be dismissed on the basis of planned or existing assignment of the prisoner to work and this is only possible if the prisoner’s relocation would compromise the operation of the prison (specifically because of the prisoner’s assignment to work). This applies especially to highly qualified jobs that require special professional knowledge or experience.

The head of the prison agreed with the Defender’s  final statement as well as with the proposed remedial measures.