The Emergence of the Penitentiary System in Greenland (late 1950s − 1960s)

Abstract

The article states that with the development of the state and society of Greenland, the acquisition of self-government in 1978 and the expansion of the rights of self-government in 2009, the evolution of criminal and penal law, aimed at regulating the relevant relations in Greenland, in this region since the late 1950s began to form a regional probation service and prison system. In this system, the chief of police was the inspector of the remand center. Tasks related to long-term prisons, juvenile prisons, labor homes and regime institutions were assigned to the inspectors of the individual institutions. The execution of the above measures of deprivation of liberty was carried out under the centralised supervision of the Ministry of Justice (Prison Department). The supervision of probationers and the fulfilment of other conditions of probation was almost without exception entrusted to the private institution Dansk Forsorgsselskab. In the 1960s, several detention centers were opened, including for young people, but the number of places in these centers was not sufficient to meet the challenges facing the prison service. In the 1960s, several detention centers were opened, but the number of places in them did not allow the prison service to meet the challenges. Private detention centers were also established, sites were planned for the opening of forced labor centers (Juliannehob, Godthob, Egedesminde and K’or Kut) and in 1967 a prison for dangerous criminals in Gotthob, and construction of youth boarding houses, including for girls and especially for the mentally ill, began. The penitentiary system established in Greenland in the 1960s was developed in accordance with local political, legal, cultural and social conditions, in close cooperation with Greenlandic society and its representatives (National Council), the judiciary, the public and the Danish Prison and Probation Service.