- 68 7. Other issues a. reception and first night procedures 141. In addition to medical screening on arrival, the reception and first night procedures as a whole have an important role to play; performed properly, they can identify at least certain of those at risk of self-harm and relieve some of the anxiety experienced by all newly-arrived prisoners. Regrettably, in none of the prisons visited was there any rigorous admission procedures whereby all new prisoners would undergo a cell-share risk assessment (conducted with care and professionalism) before being allocated to a cell and provided with toiletries, bedding and a hot meal. Indeed, upon allocation to a particular prison87, inmates are effectively placed wherever there is a spare bed or along broad categories such as Greek/foreign national prisoners or workers. Nor was there any induction programme to acquaint prisoners with the regime and running of the prison, or to ensure that they had been able to contact their family. The Committee considers that such basic procedures on admission are vital in assisting inmates entering the criminal justice system to adjust to prison life. The CPT recommends that the Greek authorities introduce proper reception and first night procedures as well as an induction process for all prisoners being admitted to a prison, with a priority placed on those establishments which are points of entry to the prison system. b. contacts with the outside world 142. The CPT attaches considerable importance to the maintenance of good contact with the outside world for all persons deprived of their liberty. The guiding principle should be to promote contact with the outside world as far as possible; any restrictions on such contacts should be based exclusively on security concerns of an appreciable nature. The importance of prisoners being able to maintain good contact with the outside world is recognised in the Prison Law of 1999 (see Articles 51 to 58), and the necessity to promote such contacts has been stressed in previous CPT reports. However, little action appears to have been taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations in this area. Although the practice as regards access to the telephone and correspondence can be considered as satisfactory, there has been no improvement in the situation as regards visits. The general rule remains a weekly visit of 30 minutes or less under closed conditions (i.e. allowing no physical contact between the prisoner and the visitor). Further, the rooms used for visits are for the most part unsuitable. 87 The CPT’s delegation noted that prisoners are sent all over the country with apparently little if any regard to their place of domicile, and that there appeared to be no tangible demarcation between the functions of the different prisons visited (leaving aside Korydallos Men’s and Women’s Prisons).