Public order and safety refer to the maintenance of lawfulness, peace, and security within a society or community.
It encompasses various measures, institutions, and practices aimed at ensuring the well-being and protection of individuals and property from threats, harm, or disruption.
The Fiji Bureau of Statistics has released data on Fiji’s social trends that looks at public order and safety, that includes statistics on prisoners behind bars in 2023.
The treatment of prisoners and the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts within the criminal justice system have significant implications for public order and safety, both within correctional facilities and in the broader community.
Balancing the goals of punishment, rehabilitation, and public protection is essential for achieving a criminal justice system that promotes public safety and upholds the rule of law. Types of prisoners FOUR categories of prisoners are kept behind bars which are convict, remand, civil, and detainee.
The gender distributions show most prisoners are male, with consistently higher numbers compared to females.
The number of male prisoners generally decreases over the years, while the number of female prisoners shows some fluctuations, but remains relatively low.
The iTaukei (Indigenous Fijians) make up the majority of prisoners throughout the years.
The Indo-Fijians represent a significant minority among prisoners.
As for the Rotuma, Fijian others, and non-Fijian citizens make up smaller proportions of the prisoner population.
There were 2299 prisoners behind bars in 2023. Out of this 1804 were convicts, 473 were in remand, 20 were prisoners in a civil matter and two detainees. Out of the 2299, 2227 or 96 per cent were males while 72 were females.
Out of the total 2299, 77 per cent or 1776 were iTaukei, 4476 were Indo Fijians, 23 Rotumans, 15 others and 39 non Fijian citizens. Prison population by province From 2017 to 2023, the prison population fluctuated across different provinces in Fiji, with some experiencing increases while others saw decreases
. However, the total number of prisoners remained relatively stable, with minor variations, totaling 2337 in 2017 and 2299 in 2023.
Out of the total 2299 prisoners, the highest number of prisoners came from Tailevu that totalled 214.
Those who hailed from Ba had the second highest population in prison with 204. The third highest inmate population were from Cakaudrove with 161 prisoners and 151 Ra natives came in as fourth highest.
145 prisoners were from Lomaiviti. Other provincial breakdown of prisoners in 2023 were as follows – Bua (97), Kadavu (119), Lau (129), Macuata (129), Nadroga/Navosa (132), Naitasiri (90), Namosi (64), Rewa (89), Serua (52).
Religious denominations Christians dominated the prison population accounting for 82 per cent in 2023, The Hindus accounted for an average of 10 per cent for the same period; whereas the Muslims had the lowest accounting for around 5 per cent. In 2023, there were a total of 2299 prisoners and out of this 560 or 24 per cent were Methodist. 344 prisoners were listed as Seventh-day Adventist while 231 were Assemblies of God and 230 Catholics.
Other prisoners by religious denominations were Anglican (45), Jehovah Witness (55), Christian Mission Fellowship (65), Latter Day Saints (22), Apostles (21), Pentecost (64), Baptist (11), Salvation army (45), All Nations Christian Fellowship (64), New Methodist (82) and 100 “other Christians”.
There were 211 Hindus in prisons in 2023 and 140 Muslims. There were 42 who were classified as “others.” Types offences & sentences From 2017-2018 to 2022-2023, reported incidents of offences against lawful authority and public morality have consistently risen from 94 to 160 and 862 to 896 respectively.
Offences against the person have fluctuated, decreasing from 367 incidents in 2017-2018 to 302 in 2022- 2023. Similarly, offences against property fluctuated but generally increased from 348 in 2017-2018 to 418 in 2022-2023.
Convictions reveal a trend towards longer sentences, with the number of “lifers” increasing from 144 in 2017-2018 to 191 in 2022-2023.
However, there’s variability in other sentence lengths, with a noticeable decrease in convictions for sentences between 12 months and 24 months in later years. Despite fluctuations, the overall number of individuals on remand remained relatively stable.
Out of the total 2299 prisoners in 2023, 896 were sentenced for offences against public morality.
There were 473 remand prisoners behind bars in 2023. 418 prisoners were serving time for offences against property while 302 were in jail for offences against the person. 48 prisoners were held
for offences against penal code while two were detainees.
One hundred ninety-one prisoners in 2023 were serving a life sentence while 570 were on a sentence of more than 10 years.
368 prisoners were in for a period of between 5 years while 250 prisoners were held for between 10-year period.
Other periods for incarceration of prisoners were as follows – Between 24 months (250); Between 12 months (78); Between 6 months (64); Below 1 month (33); Fines above $1000 (8); Fines below $1000 (12); and detainees (2)
