- 28 B. Prisons 1. Preliminary remarks 54. In the course of the 2001 visit, the CPT visited for the first time Alicarnassos, Khania and Malandrino Prisons, and carried out a follow-up visit to Korydallos Prison Complex11. At Korydallos, the CPT’s delegation focused its attention on the Prison for Men, and paid brief visits to the Prison Hospital and psychiatric unit. 55. The most significant development since the last CPT visit to Greece has been the entry into force in December 1999 of a new Prison Law12. The law reiterates the requirement to respect human dignity and sets out welcome standards concerning conditions of detention and various other aspects of life in prison. In particular, it contains provisions on minimum living space for prisoners, hygiene, programmes of activities, and health care services. Reference will be made to these provisions in the relevant parts of this report. Further, progress has been made towards the implementation of the programme for the construction of new prisons (cf. CPT/Inf (2001) 18, Part II, paragraph 48). The first new prison Malandrino - has already been brought into service and work on a second establishment - the prison service drug treatment centre at Thebes - has been completed although, at the time of the visit, it had not yet started to operate. The CPT also wishes to mention at the outset that, at Korydallos Prison for Men, the delegation observed positive changes concerning material conditions of detention: renovation work in the establishment had continued and the general level of hygiene had improved considerably. 56. Nevertheless, the information gathered by the CPT’s delegation also shows that much remains to be done. In particular, overcrowding is still rampant and regime activities are underdeveloped. As regards overcrowding, it should be recalled that, at the time of the 1993 visit, the prison population stood at 6,700 for 3,900 places (an overall occupancy rate for the prison service of 171%); pressure on the prison system subsequently eased off temporarily13, but more recently the prisoner to prison places ratio has again risen to former levels: the delegation was informed that, at the time of the 2001 visit, there were 8,500 prisoners for some 5,000 places, i.e. an occupancy level of 170%14. 11 Korydallos Prison Complex was also visited by the CPT in 1993, 1997 and 1999. 12 Law 2776, of 22 December 1999. 13 At the time of the CPT’s visit to Greece in 1997, the overall occupancy rate of the prison system was 126% (5,452 inmates for 4,332 places). 14 Overcrowding is not distributed evenly within the prison service; while certain of the so-called agricultural prisons are operating within their normal capacities (and the authorities would welcome more sentenced prisoners applying for transfer to such establishments), prisons in or close to the urban areas are severely overcrowded (e.g. at the time of the visit, the occupancy rate at Korydallos was 270%).