Prison population. Imprisonments and releases. By sex

Prision population

Set of people detained in penitentiary centres in compliance with custodial sentences in the Penal code and that are in any of the following procedural situations: accused criminals, convicts or detained on preventative grounds, if the cause is processed.

The introduction of the new penal Code, on January 1, 1996, led to the classification of convicts on the basis of a new typology of offences, which will coexist alongside the classification used in the previous Penal Code. For statistical purposes it should be noted, however, that each convict is only classified for one offence, always the one for which the convict has received the toughest sentence.

Data is provided on the penal courts that were created to take responsibility for judging and sentencing less serious offences. This also includes the activity of provincial audiences. The information is completed with data on the prison population on December 31.