2. Introduction ‘The petitioner may be a hard-core criminal… but if constitutional guarantees are to have any meaning or value in our democratic set up, it is essential that he not be denied the protection guaranteed by our Constitution’. Atukorale, J (Amal Sudath Silva V. Kodituwakku S.C. No. 186/86. May 5, 1987). The correctional system in Sri Lanka has featured in public discourse only when a riot or similar incident of violence has taken place, and public discussion on prison conditions and the correctional system has largely been absent. At the same time, there is little information on the correctional system in Sri Lanka in the public domain, with virtually no original empirical research available on this issue. Collectively, these factors have caused the rights of prisoners to be largely excluded from the national human rights discourse and thereby also from public consciousness. Sri Lankan prisons are severely overcrowded and hold a large number of pretrial detainees. Patterns observed in prisons globally indicate that the impact of such overcrowding would include the lack of access to healthcare, higher rate of illnesses, poor provision of rehabilitation programmes, psycho-social support and problems related to maintaining order due to inadequate prison officers. As a result, the correctional system moves away from its main purpose, i.e. the rehabilitation and social integration of offenders. If these issues are to be addressed then the root causes have to be identified. Globally it has been observed that often the main cause of overcrowding is an ailing and overburdened criminal justice system, which points to the need for systemic change. The Commission as the only national entity with unfettered access to any place where persons are deprived of liberty, undertook special visits to prisons in the country However, such visits were ad-hoc rather than routine, since the routine inspections of police stations formed the bulk of the Commission’s inspection and monitoring function. Complaints received from prisoners and their families were relatively small in number, and prison visits would be undertaken mainly to obtain statements from prisoners in relation to the complaints received. Although prisoners comprise a significant group of persons at risk of suffering human rights violations, the access prisoners have to the Commission is severely restricted since they cannot send confidential letters or call the Commission’s hotline from prison. In 2016, the Human Rights Commission submitted its findings to the Committee Against Torture, at the 5th Periodic Review of Sri Lanka. The report stated that the detention conditions of Welikada Closed Prison fell far below international standards, and outlined the concerns surrounding access to healthcare and accommodation of prisoners in the largest 1