Solitary confinement in Malta : a call for reform

Abstract

The issue of Solitary Confinement has long been one of contention within the area of prison management, due to concerns regarding human rights surrounding its implementation and practice. The practice of Solitary Confinement has been shown, through multiple empirical research publications, to be detrimental to prisoners’ wellbeing, resulting in negative effects on their physical, psychological and social health (Shalev, 2008; Brunner et al., 2017), as well as worsening rates of recidivism (Gordon, 2014). Research has shown Solitary Confinement to be ineffective in reducing violent behaviour or rehabilitating the prisoner, in many cases increasing the chances of re-offending, in particular increasing the risk of a prisoner committing violent crimes (Zgoba et al., 2020), thus revealing that it’s use is by nature an admission of failure. The use of Solitary Confinement as a ‘last resort’ indicates that all other methods of resolving a situation have failed. It is therefore pertinent that alternative courses of action are re-evaluated with a view towards the abolishment of Solitary Confinement. This document will present a number of research findings, in order to highlight the urgent need for legislative reform with regard to the use of Solitary Confinement practices in the Maltese context, where this punishment still resides as part of the Criminal Code (Article 9(1), Laws of Malta).