Belgium *

This chapter considers the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Belgian prisons between March 2020 and April 2021. The pandemic in Belgium has been characterised by three distinct waves: The first between mid-March ² and June 2020; the second from mid-October 2020 until 31 March 2021 and the third, immediately following the second, from 1 April 2021 (still ongoing at the time of writing). The measures taken to prevent the pandemic from entering the prison system were obstructed by issues likely to make the health crisis more problematic: Overcrowded prisons; a prison population generally in poor health and sub-standard sanitary conditions. Belgium has been convicted several times for violations of fundamental rights of prisoners, and for not providing effective remedies. Following a short introduction to the Belgian prison system and the prison population rates before and during the pandemic, the chapter critically analyses the measures taken during the pandemic, in particular, the restrictions on prisoners’ contact with the outside world and the characteristics of the internal regime.