incarceration, resulting in their families experiencing multiple hardships, about which many prisoners expressed anguish. Often, the prisoner lamented that while he/she was being offered three meals in prison, there was no one to provide even one meal to their family. The Commission also found that numerous shortcomings in the functioning of the criminal justice process contributed to extended incarceration of persons, particularly pre-trial detention, which in turn, contributed to the creation of adverse living conditions and treatment in prison. The manner in which bail is awarded, the administrative inefficiencies of state institutions, such as the Attorney General’s Department, the lack of legal aid and the poor utilization of alternatives to incarceration all contribute to more prisoners spending longer periods of time in prison. Not only is this a huge burden on the taxpayer, but it also results in diminishing returns because prisoners do not leave prison being prepared to reintegrate into society and live as productive citizens. Instead, the system, as it currently exists, could potentially result in released prisoners resorting to further criminality after release in order to survive. The correctional system therefore requires extensive reform if it is to fulfil its objective of rehabilitating prisoners and ultimately preventing crime. It is hoped that this study will be the foundation for formulating correctional policies that seek to provide effective rehabilitation programmes that enable persons to live with dignity during and after their term of imprisonment, rather than exacerbating the socio-economic and psychological conditions that lead to criminality in the first place. It must be highlighted that throughout this study, the Commission observed DOP officers to be extremely aware of and empathetic towards the hardships faced by inmates within prison, even in their personal lives. Prison staff were found willing to discuss the shortcomings and weaknesses of the Department of Prisons, and officers themselves provided insightful and progressive suggestions to improve the existing penal system and transform it into a correctional system. Their recommendations were wide ranging, encompassing the living conditions of prisoners, rehabilitation programmes to reduce the rate of recidivism and even means of strengthening the criminal justice process. For this reason, the Commission believes that prison officers at all ranks should be consulted in any prison reform initiatives undertaken by the government. Part I – Treatment and Conditions of Prisoners 1. Entrance and Exit Procedure The process of admitting and registering a new inmate to prison was observed to be uniform and consistent across all prisons but contained a number of shortcomings. For instance, the information management system in prisons is highly inefficient as manual files, rather than a digital centralized database, are used to store prisoners’ records, leading to delays in the search and retrieval of files. Although a few prisons were observed to be operating an electronic system of data management, the lack of IT proficient officers amongst the staff limited the long-term success of these initiatives. iv