NHRCK Recommends Minister of Justice to Address Overcrowding in Correctional Facilities
□ The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Chairperson Ahn Chang-ho, hereinafter “NHRCK”) has decided to recommend that the Minister of Justice take measures to alleviate overcrowding in ○○ Prison, ○○○○ Detention Center, ○○○○ Prison, and ○○ Detention Center (hereinafter “the Respondent Institutions”).
□ The complainants, several inmates currently held in the above facilities, filed complaints with the NHRCK alleging that the Respondent Institutions violated their human dignity by detaining them under excessively overcrowded conditions.
□ In response, the Respondent Institutions stated that, due to current correctional policy, it is difficult to keep the inmate population below a certain threshold, and expanding correctional facilities cannot be achieved in the short term. Nevertheless, they indicated that efforts are being made to minimize overcrowding through various measures.
□ According to the NHRCK’s investigation, the complainants had been detained for significant periods in living spaces smaller than the minimum 2.58㎡ per person (excluding restroom areas) stipulated in the Guidelines on the Classification, Transfer, and Recordkeeping of Inmates. In some cases, inmates were confined for over 320 consecutive days in spaces as small as 2㎡ per person, and in extreme instances, individuals were placed in 1.28㎡ areas for several days.
○ The NHRCK’s Committee on Human Rights Violations 2 stated that “when the per capita space in a cell is so limited that it hinders even the satisfaction of basic human needs, such treatment exceeds the permissible limits of state punishment.” The Committee therefore found the practice inconsistent with Article 10 of the Constitution, which guarantees human dignity, value, and the right to pursue happiness.
○ However, the Committee also noted that overcrowding is not solely a problem of individual correctional institutions but stems from structural and systemic factors, such as the overall increase in inmate populations, the restrictive operation of parole systems, and the lack of budget and available sites for expanding correctional facilities.
* As of 2024, the national average occupancy rate in correctional facilities stood at 122.10%, detailed statistics are provided as follows.
|
Year
|
Total
|
Below 100% |
100% or above |
110% or above |
120% or above |
130% or above |
|
2024 |
55 facilities (100%) |
7 facilities (12.7%) |
3 facilities (5.5%) |
15 facilities (27.3%) |
14 facilities (25.5%) |
16 facilities (29.1%) |
(Source :2025 Correctional Statistics Yearbook_
□ In light of these findings, the NHRCK recommended that the Minister of Justice take concrete measures to address overcrowding in ○○ Prison, ○○○○ Detention Center, ○○○○ Prison, and ○○ Detention Center, and called for greater governmental and public attention to the broader issue of overcrowding in Korea’s correctional system.
