findings preventive detention

Main findings:

• 100,000 people across the EU are waiting in jail for their judgement.
• In the beginning of 2021, more than one in five people in European prisons were in pre-trial detention.
• Apart from the consequences on family life, work and economic stability, imprisonment has dire consequences on mental health ranging from adaptive disorders to suicide.
• In theory, the rules for pre-trial detention are fairly limited, even though they vary slightly between countries. But they have proven to be very open to interpretation – especially in contexts where it’s easier for judges to justify imprisonment rather than release.
• A partial explanation for the wide-spread use of pre-trial detention might lie in the social representations of prison and criminals, a narrative that partially stems from growing populism and political opportunism.