[Realta Institution in the eastern Swiss agreement on punishment and sentences]

The coming into effect of the Swiss Penal Code in 1942, marked a decisive step toward the protection of rights in our country. The agreement of Eastern Switzerland on the executive of sentences is based on article 383, paragraph 2 and it establishes that cantons may pass agreements on the common management of their institutions. The following cantons have joined in the above-mentioned convention: Zurich, Glaris, Schaffhouse, both Appenzells, St-Gall, Thurgovie and the Grisons. These cantons share different tasks related to the executive of sentences. The prison of Realta, in the canton of the Grisons, allows special imprisonment (art. 42), when sentences may be carried out in open prisons. In 1978 the canton of the Grisons has marked a new prescription concerning imprisonment which takes into account all the requirements of the European convention on Human Rights and the Swiss Penal Code. Partial imprisonment is possible when the execution of a full-time sentence has been refused. A qualification system has been introduced which is essentially based on the work and behaviour of residents. Employment of free time, tolerance to imprisonment, contact with the outside world, disciplinary punishments, the possibility to lodge complaints, all of these aforenamed situations conform to clear regulations.