These are turbulent times and, not in vain, we live in a harsh context marked by the growing perception of insecurity, the advance of new forms of crime and political pressure for quick, effective and severe responses.
In this complex framework, the criminal policy has established itself as one of the central axes of public debate worldwide.
far from limit itself to toughening penalties, This field of criminology includes a skein of legal, social and economic decisions that define how States prevent crime, sanction illicit conduct and manage the consequences of their own punitive strategies.
Now, the issue is that the results of these policies show a continuing paradox: More punishment does not always mean less crime but, on the other hand, it does frequently translate into Collapsed prison systems and greater social exclusion.
Well, in this complex scenario Salamanca, renowned city with a long legal traditionhas become a meeting place for Ibero-American debate about the limits and challenges of the penal systems of our time.
In total, specialists from 18 countries have put on the table a shared diagnosis that does not include borders or isolated figures, and that points directly to the root of structural problems that cross the countries of Ibero-America.
Criminal policy is, therefore, in a concise and simple way, “that set of measures and criteria of a legal, social, educational, economic and similar nature, established by public powers to prevent and react to criminal phenomenain order to keep crime rates in a given society under tolerable limits.”
Preventive detention as the norm
One of the most repeated aspects in the different interventions was the use of preventive detention as a tool of criminal control.
The data provided by the experts present are, to say the least, alarming.
In Brazil, for example, about 40% of people deprived of liberty are without a final sentence. This figure, although high, is not the highest: in Bolivia, for example, the percentage rises to 58%.
As stated, this practice distorts the exceptional nature of the precautionary measure and turns it into an anticipated punishment, with a strong impact on young, poor people with little access to effective legal defense.
In 2023, Mexico had 198,567 prisoners in this situation, in Peru 78,040 and in Colombia, 53,599.
As far as Spain is concerned, on January 31, 2023, Of 55,909 prisoners, 9,150 did not have a final sentence.
Overcrowding and informal control in prisons
The collapse of the prison system was another of the critical points to be addressed.
As far as Spain is concerned, sand maintains a prison population stable, with about 56,000–60,000 inmates.
This rate is moderate, in European comparison, and without a general problem of overcrowding, although, yes, Specific difficulties persist in resources and management in some centers.
In the province of Salamanca, the Topas penitentiary center, one of the main ones in Castilla y León, reflects these national tensions translated into a local key: it maintains a number of inmates above their theoretical capacity and has added alerts about lack of health personnel and healthcare pressure, according to union complaints.
These factors, occupation at the limit, tight resources and internal conflict, position Salamanca as a reflection of the challenges faced by the Spanish prison system.
In Bolivia, for example, the official capacity of prisons is about 16,000 places, compared to a prison population that exceeds 33,000 people, with centers that register overcrowding levels above 200%. In fact, day-to-day management is left in the hands of internal structures linked directly to organized crime.
In the case of Brazil, prisons were described as spaces marked by overpopulation, violence and lack of control effective state, where prison does not reduce crime, but rather contributes to consolidate criminal networks and exclusion dynamics.
New forms of crime and overwhelmed systems
In addition to traditional crime, participants warned about the growth of cybercrimes, human trafficking, smuggling and illegal mining, phenomena for which many countries they lack updated regulatory frameworks and sufficient investigative capabilities.
In parallel, the lack of judicial independence, the politicization of institutions and corruption were highlighted as factors that weaken the criminal response and favor impunity at certain levels, while maintaining strong punitive pressure on the poorest sectors.
