Half of Luxembourg prisoners have still not been sentenced, Council of Europe says

Almost half of Luxembourg’s total prison population is currently being held in pre-trial detention, data from the Justice Ministry has shown.

There are 260 people, including 11 women, currently in pre-trial detention in Luxembourg, a number that “represents 46% of the total prison population,” the ministry told Contacto.

Luxembourg’s prison system has been criticised by the Council of Europe, one of the world’s biggest and oldest institutions for the defence of human rights. Its latest report calculates that 49% of the country’s prison population has not yet been sentenced.

There is no time limit for pre-trial detention in Luxembourg legislation, the constitution or national case law. However, “the country applies Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which establishes safeguards against arbitrary detention,” the council said.

New data reveals that of the 1,324 people who passed through the Grand Duchy’s cells in 2024, only 421 had received a conviction and were serving time. The vast majority, 903, had not been sentenced by a judge and were awaiting a judgement in pre-trial detention, the ministry said.

Male remand prisoners are held at Uerschterhaff, while women remain in the Luxembourg Penitentiary Centre (CPL) in Strassen, where “they can interact with other detainees to reduce the risk of isolation,” a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry said.

Huge population growth in five years

The prison population has consistently increased year-on-year. Between 2020 and 2024, the total number of prisoners in Luxembourg rose from 823 to 1,324, an increase of more than 60%. The number of remand prisoners also rose from 546 in 2020 to 903 in 2024.

Graph showing the evolution of the number of remand prisoners (orange) and sentenced prisoners (blue) in Luxembourg  © Photo credit: Ministry of Justice data

According to Luxembourg law, pre-trial detention is described as an “exception to the principle of individual liberty”. It is only applicable after a suspect has been questioned by an investigating judge, and where there are serious indications of guilt and the sentence would be more than two years in prison. There must also be a risk of flight, destruction of evidence or a danger of recidivism in criminal behaviour.

Third-highest rate of pre-trial detention

The rate of pre-trial detention in Luxembourg remains the third highest in Europe, according to the Council of Europe’s report. Of the 48 prison administrations assessed between January 2022 and January 2023, the rate of pre-trial detention in the Grand Duchy is well above the European average – which is only one third of the incarcerated population.

Armenia and Albania are the only countries that surpass the Grand Duchy in terms of the population detained on remand.

(Figures from the Ministry of Justice.)

Luxembourg also has the eighth-highest prison suicide rate in Europe, with 14 inmates per 10,000 committing suicide.

According to the most recent Council of Europe report from 2024, 78% of prisoners in Luxembourg were not Luxembourgish citizens.

Adult and juvenile prisoners mixed

The Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee has also urged the Luxembourg authorities to put an end to the detention of minors in the Luxembourg Penitentiary Centre – a prison for adults – denouncing the practice as “unacceptable and inadequate”.

In a report drawn up in 2023, the Council of Europe considers that minors are “often left to their own devices” and that psychosocial support is not provided. The document reports excessive and unsupervised interaction between adult prisoners and minors.

(This article was originally published by Contacto. Translation and editing by Alex Stevensson)