Title- A Prison Without Bars, Chains, or Locks: Should India Adopt Finland's Open Prisons Model?

Abstract

Krishna Iyer, J. in his judgments has always supported humanitarian over punitive treatment of inmates. The Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to life and personal liberty to all people, including prisoners. Previously, prisons were thought to be small rooms where convicted criminals were kept away from luxury and public life to allow them to reflect on their crimes and repent. Since ancient times, prisons have been used both domestically and abroad as punitive and correctional facilities. One of the concepts employed by the criminal justice system to help prisoners become law-abiding citizens is the open prison.

This article begins with a brief study of the concept of open prisons and a comparative discussion of open prisons in Finland and India. This research paper tries to bring out the contrast between the Indian and Finnish Open Prisons as Finland is the perfect example to study the implementation of reformative justice in prison administration. The researcher has also critically discussed the conditions of the open prison system in India and tried to suggest measures to enhance the condition just like the Finnish Open Prisons. In the end, the researcher has concluded the paper with some suggestions that can be implemented to enhance the conditions of the open prison system in India.