Right to communicate
Whilst in prison, you should be able to maintain relationships with your family and other persons as normally as possible. This includes your right to meet them in person for at least as many times as reasonably necessary for maintaining a relationship with them.
During these meetings, you should be able to talk to your family members directly without having a separating wall between you. You should also be able to have some physical contact (such as a hug or holding hands) with your family members, even during short visits.
What is family?
According to Slovak law, members of your family allowed to visit you in prison are your:
- parents (own and adopted)
- spouse, husband, wife and their parents
- children (own and adopted) and his/her husband or wife
- siblings
- grandparents
- grandchildren
- person to whom the child of the convicted person was entrusted with substitute care due to serving a sentence.
Your unmarried partner, with whom you have been living or have children together, is also considered your family member.
Frequency and duration of visits
The frequency and duration of visits depends on the rules set by a head of a prison. However, the law prescribes minimum of one visit for two hours per month. You may also have short visits with persons other than your family members.
Restrictions and monitoring
Every restriction (such as, the number of visits, the duration of visits or the methods of supervision) must be as permitted under the law, well-grounded and limited in time.
Slovak law allows restrictions on visits in prisons, but only for security reasons or as a disciplinary punishment. An individual decision regarding a restriction must be recorded. The need for restrictions should be well-reasoned, individually assessed and specific to your case. The restrictions should not be more severe than necessary for your individual situation.
important The prison administration cannot prevent you from seeing your family at all.
Slovak law allows the prison administration to monitor your meeting in order to control principles of conduct during a visit.
A visit to a convicted person in a minimum security level prison and in a medium security level prison is usually carried out by direct contact. A visit to a convicted person in a maximum security level prison is usually carried out without direct contact. In justified cases, a head of a prison can decide whether the visit to the convicted person will be carried out with or without direct contact.
What human rights violation may there be?
If your visits are unlawfully restricted and monitored, namely, in situations that are not allowed by law, where restrictions are unnecessary or too strict for your case, this may result in the violation of your privacy and family life.
If the head of your prison has denied you a visit or applied unlawful monitoring methods, you should complain to the prosecutor’s office. Read more about how to complain.