Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice Agency of Corrections says that overcrowding in Taiwan’s prisons is primarily due to the rampant increase in fraud-related cases. In the future, transfers to other prisons may be arranged based on the proportion of overcrowding.
On the 23rd, Agency of Corrections Director Zhou Huihuang responded to questions in the Legislative Yuan regarding prison overcrowding, stating that the official capacity of prisons island-wide is 60,552, but as of the latest count, the number of inmates has reached 60,945—a surplus of over 300.
Zhou Huihuang pointed out that in terms of specific inmate categories, fraud-related offenders have now risen to become the largest group. Currently, institutions such as Taoyuan Women’s Prison, Taipei Prison, and Taipei Detention Center are all experiencing overcrowding. Expansion and reconstruction plans for prisons will continue, with the Bade Minimum-Security Prison and the Changhua Detention Center expansion projects expected to increase capacity by 3,459 inmates.
Taiwan People’s Party legislator Huang Guochang stated that according to audit findings, the Bade Minimum-Security Prison construction project underwent preliminary inspection from January to March 2023 and was found to have 2,279 non-compliant issues. However, as of the end of March this year, 30 non-compliant items remain unresolved, so the facility has not yet become operational.
Lack of prison space and high overcrowding rates have long drawn public criticism in Taiwan. According to a March report by Taiwanese media, there are already ten prisons where the overcrowding rate exceeds 15%, with the highest surpassing 40%. The authorities once carried out large-scale sentence reductions in an attempt to address the overcrowding issue, but the results have proven ineffective.