Solitary confinement in prison systems should be abolished as it goes against fundamental human rights and causes permanent damage to the persons that have to go through it, the dean of the Faculty of Social Wellbeing said.

Professor Andrew Azzopardi called for a complete reform in this system, saying that solitary confinement is “torture” and that no benefit stems out of this oppressive practice.

Solitary confinement is generally associated with conditions of extreme, although not total, isolation from others. This is generally used a disciplinary action against a prisoner.

However, Azzopardi remarked that research is crystal clear that individuals subjected to solitary confinement experience significant detrimental effects on their physiological and psychological wellbeing, which can occur after only a few days.

Some of these effects include severe damage to the individual’s emotional state, significant physical changes in the brain, increased frequency of emotional outburst, and a state of anxiety and depression, amongst other things. It could also cause long-term social effects.

This is opposite to rehabilitation which prison systems are supposed to achieve, as instead of helping these prisoners to socialise and re-establish themselves with society, it continues to damage them. 

Azzopardi proposed a reform to this law, where such a reform would involve the amendment of legal provisions that are currently stipulated in Chapter 9 (‘Criminal Code’) of the Laws of Malta. It proposed that an overhaul of Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta, as well as the Subsidiary Legislation 260.03 – Prisons Regulations, is undertaken by the relevant authorities.

This would be removing the clauses which allow for solitary confinement.

In cases where a prisoner suffers from mental health issues and is deemed to require solitary confinement, Azzopardi suggested that the necessary monitoring and guidance is carried out by psychology professionals instead.

“It is also essential that staff working at the Correctional Services Agency (CSA) should receive sufficient and adequate training to ensure that they are well-equipped in methods for dealing with prisoners in a manner that is both humane and adequate, thereby eliminating the need for Solitary Confinement being a coercive method of keeping order,” the report read.