for pensioners who are entitled to benefits from pension protection system for Prison Guard officers:

Offenders are required to return to the prison according to a timetable decided by the competent authority, taking into account the time necessary for the professional activity, schooling, vocational training, work experience, involvement in family life or medical treatment that was the reason for allowing the day release arrangement.

There are major differences between the Member States' legislation on the powers of those concerned (courts, Justice Ministry, regional or local prisons administration), the extent of the authorities' discretion (in particular the question whether release is mandatory or optional), the early release procedure, the possibilities for challenging a decision refusing to allow early release, supervisory arrangements etc.

Your rapporteur notes, further, with regard to Spain, that a university study - no precise official figures are available - claims that 80% of the persons held under category 1 conditions - or under a closed or special regime (persons covered by the FIES regime and Article 75 of the Prison Rules - are serving their sentences at some distance from their own place of residence. Persons subject to such a regime may be held in prisons far away from their place of residence only in cases of exceptional danger and where there is adequate justification for such a step; the study claims that in Spain such measures are applied as an additional p ...[+++]enalty.

It is also notable that the authorities are currently carrying out a restructuring of the entire prison system (the construction of a new type of prison, the gradual compliance with international minimum standards, collaboration with the Committee for the Prevention of Torture).

2. Welcomes the fact that Turkey has authorised the publication of texts concerning the visits made by the CPT and encourages the Turkish authorities to continue to work with this committee on the current restructuring of the prison system;