Chapter 4 Correction of Adult Offenders
Penal institutions include prisons and juvenile prisons which are mainly used to imprison inmates (refers to persons sentenced to imprisonment with or without work, or misdemeanor imprisonment without work; hereinafter the same) and provide them with the necessary treatment, and detention houses which mainly imprison presentenced inmates (refers to persons under arrest/detention and those who are to be sentenced; hereinafter the same). Workhouses in which offenders who are unable to pay fine or petty fine are detained and, except for some institutions, Kanchi confinement houses in which persons subject to court-ordered confinement (Kanchi confinement) under the provisions of Article 2 of the Act on Maintenance of Order in Courtrooms, etc. (Act No. 286 of 1952) are detained are attached to penal institutions.
As of April 1, 2009, there were 77 main penal institutions (62 prisons including four rehabilitation program centers, seven juvenile prisons, and eight detention houses) and 112 branch penal institutions (eight branch prisons and 104 branch detention houses).
Management and operation of penal institutions and treatment of inmates and presentenced inmates, etc. have conventionally been based on the Prison Act (Act No. 28 of 1908). Enforcement of the Act on Penal Institutions and the Treatment of Sentenced Inmates (Act No. 50 of 2005; hereinafter referred to as the “Inmates Treatment Act”) on May 24, 2006 and subsequent revision of the said act on June 1, 2007 (by Act No. 58 of 2006; the title of the act was altered to the Act on Penal Detention Facilities and Treatment of Inmates and Detainees (hereinafter referred to as the “Penal Detention Facilities Act”)), however, resulted in the above mentioned management/operation and treatment being based on the said act.
Women’s guidance homes are corrective institutions used to hold females aged 20 or older who were placed under guidance dispositions after committing the offenses in Article 5 of the Anti-Prostitution Act (solicitation, etc.). As of April 1, 2009, there was one women’s guidance home in Tokyo. Only one female has been admitted (in 2005) to a women’s guidance home over the last 10 years (Source: Annual Report of Statistics on Correction).
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