LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for urgent reforms to the criminal justice system as prisons across the country remain severely overcrowded, with Punjab’s 45 prisons operating at more than 190 per cent of their designated capacity in September.

In its policy paper, Beyond the Prison Wall: Reducing Overcrowding in Pakistan’s Prisons, released on Tuesday, the HRCP said prison overcrowding was not merely a matter of building more jails but a symptom of deeper problems, including ineffective bail mechanisms, prolonged trials, slow investigations and limited use of probation and parole.

According to the latest Punjab prison data cited in the report, the province had 74,773 prisoners against a designated capacity of 39,204 in Sept 2026, translating into overcrowding of 190.73 percent.

The number of under-trial prisoners stood at 54,932, or nearly 74pc of the total prison population. The figure had increased from 51,428 under-trial prisoners among 70,069 inmates in Sept 2025, when overcrowding stood at 183.35pc.

The HRCP said the national picture was similarly concerning, with official data for July-August 2024 showing prisons across Pakistan operating at an average of 152.2pc of their stated capacity. Under-trial prisoners accounted for 73.41pc of the prison population in 2024, compared with 66pc in 2017.

The report said the continued dominance of under-trial prisoners reflected an “overreliance” on pre-trial detention, ineffective bail, prolonged judicial processes and custodial measures.

It noted that Punjab had increased its prison infrastructure in recent years, including the construction of new facilities, but overcrowding persisted. The province had 52,803 prisoners against a designated capacity of 21,527 in 2010, while the NCHR data showed overcrowding at 173.6pc in 2024 despite an expansion of prison capacity.

The HRCP said overcrowding had serious implications for prisoners’ rights, contributing to poor health and living conditions, inadequate sanitation, infectious diseases, mental health problems, violence and reduced opportunities for rehabilitation.

It also pointed to unreliable and slow investigations and prosecution as major factors behind the large under-trial population, saying people could remain incarcerated for months or years before their cases were concluded.

The commission recommended revisiting the bail framework to bring it in line with constitutional guarantees of liberty and the presumption of innocence.

It called for the burden of demonstrating the necessity of continued detention to be placed on police and prosecution rather than requiring accused persons to establish their prima facie innocence. It further recommended that courts exercise remand powers sparingly and give written reasons for detention, while statutory delays should be strictly enforced as grounds for bail.

The HRCP also called for alternatives to pre-trial detention, including release on personal recognisance, supervision and house arrest, as well as fairer bail amounts and greater use of alternatives for minor offences.

The policy paper said prosecution services should be made genuinely independent and should withdraw cases where there was little likelihood of successful prosecution. Trial courts should also be encouraged to discharge or acquit accused persons at an early stage where evidence was inadequate.

The commission stressed that probation and parole laws, despite being available under federal and provincial legislation, remained severely under-utilised. It called for trained staff, stronger implementation mechanisms and greater access to non-custodial measures.

HRCP Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt said urgent and systemic reforms were needed to address the chronic overcrowding crisis.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2026