In Slovakia, there are 16 remand and prison facilities as well as the Hospital for Accused and Convicted Persons in Trenčín. During the audited period, the Prison and Court Guard Service employed an average of 5,500 staff members. The average number of incarcerated persons was 9,755, representing a ratio of 0.56 staff members per inmate, which is comparable to neighbouring countries.

Daily expenditure per inmate increased in 2024 by more than €22 compared with 2022, reaching €87.15 per day. Part of the costs – approximately €6.50 per person per day – was covered by revenues from compensation payments and work performed by inmates. The annual budget of the General Directorate of the PCGS, which oversees all prison facilities, is approximately €300 million.

“The audit showed that the Service’s budget in the audited years did not cover all expected current and capital expenditures. This situation complicated long-term planning and led to the postponement or incomplete implementation of some activities,” said Henrieta Crkoňová, Vice-Chair of the national auditors.

She also pointed to shortcomings in the prison system concept, which falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic, as well as to insufficient oversight by the ministry. For example, the ministry did not carry out a single inspection of how the General Directorate of the Service handled complaints from inmates, even though this is a legal obligation.

During the audited period, inmates submitted 620 complaints to prison directors, yet none of them were assessed by the PCGS as justified. The ministry’s inaction creates a risk that complaints may be handled incorrectly or merely formally.

Auditors also examined the safety of inmates. “Every life has value, and even in prison human dignity and the right to health protection must be preserved,” said the Vice-Chair of the Office.

Protection of inmates and prison officers has mainly been ensured through corridor camera systems, which the PCGS is gradually modernising and expanding. However, due to a lack of funding, this process had not been completed by the end of the audit. Another safety measure was the procurement of 136 body cameras for officers, with a total value of €128,000, financed from European funds.

Protection of individuals in crisis situations was also to be strengthened through the installation of monitoring devices in cells for accused and convicted persons at higher risk of life-threatening situations. Public procurement for electronic monitoring was completed in 2024 with the signing of a contract worth €400,000.

A total of 80 cells across all facilities were selected for the installation of a system combining camera surveillance and monitoring of vital signs. At the time of the audit, the pilot project was in the user-testing phase at the Hospital for Accused and Convicted Persons in Trenčín, after which it is expected to be gradually deployed in all facilities.

Prison work programmes are also available to inmates and serve multiple purposes – they support resocialisation, help mitigate the effects of isolation, can have therapeutic benefits, and also generate income for the PCGS budget.

Maintaining contact with family is another important element in the resocialisation process. During the pandemic, video visits were introduced in prisons to allow remote contact with relatives. This form proved effective during the pandemic and has remained as a suitable complement to physical visits.

A new information system is intended to enable telephone communication, but it is still not fully operational. As the project is financed from European Union funds, the Supreme Audit Office forwarded its key findings to the Ministry of Transport of the Slovak Republic, acting as the managing authority, and to the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, acting as the intermediary body, for further verification.

Despite the restriction of liberty, inmates in Slovakia are able to purchase certain basic goods through prison shops operating directly within the facilities. In this context, the national authority for external audit emphasises the need to establish clear criteria for selecting shop operators and for ensuring that prices of goods remain reasonable. An improperly designed system may lead to higher prices and increased dissatisfaction among inmates.