Prison System

Our vision 

We strive for a prison system that helps people prepare for life outside prison and promotes a safe and inclusive society. As a member of European RESCALED movement, we advocate for the development of detention houses – small-scale facilities, differentiated according to client needs and safety requirements, and integrated into the community. 

What is the problem? 

The current model of large, closed prisons is based on a concept that is more than 200 years old. Isolation, mass accommodation and the absence of a motivating environment do not meet the needs of the 21st century.
Such a system does not promote responsibility or positive change but deepens social exclusion and increases the risk of recidivism. 

Impact on society 

  • 65% of people return to prison after release, 50% within two years. 
  • The prison system costs the state CZK 34 million per day, or CZK 13.5 billion per year. 

What we have achieved 

  • We have pushed through a change in the approach to prison systems in strategic documents of the EU and UN. 
  • We are active member of the European RESCALED network and its ambassador in the Czech Republic (www.rescaled.cz).  
  • The concept of detention houses has been included in the Prison System Development Concept 2026–2035. 

What we are working on 

  • In cooperation with České priority/Czech Priorities, we are preparing a cost-benefit analysis of the open prisons. 
  • Together with the Czech Prison Service, we are creating a knowledge base for detention houses as a foundation for pilot projects and a strategy for modernising the Czech prison system. 
  • We raise public awareness of the importance of integrating people with criminal past and support their destigmatization. 

Audiovisual awareness project “Behind the Walls of Prejudice” 

The Behind the Walls of Prejudice project is a series of awareness-raising videos created in close cooperation between the RUBIKON Centrum, director Jan Látal‘s CzeXperiment project, and the Czech Prison Service. 

The aim of the project is to symbolically break down walls with barbed wire and offer the public a glimpse into the lives and experiences of incarcerated people and prison staff. The videos open up topics that normally remain hidden and contribute to greater understanding and destigmatisation. 

Video topics