The fundamental functions of the prison system are to protect society from offenders and to achieve the purpose of execution of a custodial sentence - organising a prisoner’s life and motivating them to become capable of living independently at liberty in accordance with social norms, while minimising the harmful consequences of life in prison.
An approach that would in any way further compromise human dignity, worsen the quality of life, undermine the protection of fundamental human rights, deny the right to health care, etc. would ultimately only exacerbate the pathology of the behaviour of persons deprived of liberty, resulting in even greater harm to the community once they are released after the end of their sentence.
Consequently, the purpose of executing a custodial sentence is, in addition to humane treatment and respect for the dignity of the person serving a prison sentence, to train prisoners to live in accordance with the law and social norms.
Penal institutions make every effort to ensure that the life of a prisoner during sentence execution is as similar as possible to the existing general circumstances of life, and helps the prisoner through appropriate sentence execution programmes to develop a sense of responsibility.
The prison system in Croatia comprises 25 organisational units i.e. correctional facilities:
Correctional facilities
Penitentiaries Prisons Reformatories Centres
