Greece has several types of penal facilities, including central penitentiaries (the basis of the penal system), correctional farms, open and minimum-security prisons, reformatories, and training schools for juvenile offenders. Additional facilities include prison hospitals and sanatoriums. Conditions inside the great majority of those facilities are generally regarded as satisfactory. Since the 1980s, a major building program has replaced outdated buildings with modern facilities. No distinction is made inside prisons on the basis of social class, race, or religion, but men and women and adults and juveniles are housed in separate facilities. Occasionally, people serving life sentences for execrable crimes are housed in separate prison wings, although they are free to mix with other prisoners in social and athletic activities. The death penalty is prescribed by law for heinous crimes, but it has not been put into effect since 1972, and in the 1990s there was considerable support for abolishing it. Visits by family members are allowed three times per week. Under a 1994 law, a prison director may grant permission to prisoners to leave the prison and stay with their families for periods of five to ten days.

The Greek penal system emphasizes the rehabilitation of prisoners through education, vocational training, and productive labor. Probation officers assist ex-convicts in securing employment upon release from prison. Particular emphasis is placed on rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. Special training schools and institutions provide academic and vocational education.

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece The Penal System information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece The Penal System should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.