On Friday 13 March 2026, Luxembourg’s Prison Administration reported that the law of 18 February 2026 amending the law of 20 July 2018 on prison administration reform was published in the Official Journal and entered into force on the same day.
The reform aims to adapt the legal framework of the prison administration to operational realities and to improve transparency, while ensuring more effective implementation of the law.
According to the prison administration, the new provisions clarify responsibilities and strengthen governance. The reform establishes the central role of the head of the administration, who holds the title of Director General of the prison administration, to ensure unified strategic coordination and consistent management across all services.
The law assigns responsibility for organising penitentiary treatment to the administration and introduces a criminological service to assess individuals in detention. This service analyses the risk of reoffending and levels of criminal risk to help tailor interventions and support measures.
The reform updates several rules affecting detainees to better reflect operational realities. These changes cover areas such as searches, prison work, cell regimes and disciplinary measures. The law aims to balance security, reintegration and respect for human dignity, while reinforcing both rights and obligations.
The new measures will strengthen efforts to combat the introduction and circulation of drugs in detention, noted the prison administration. The law will allow authorities, in exceptional cases, to monitor certain official correspondence when individuals misuse it to introduce illicit substances. It will also clarify the role of detection dogs and confirm their use alongside electronic systems during security operations.
The reform will also facilitate access to prisons for ministers of religion and moral advisers. It will introduce a specific accreditation system to speed up and simplify security checks, while clearly defining the conditions under which they will operate.
