The Court of Audit’s view of Justice – Performance audit of the measures against prison overcrowding

This article outlines the results and recommendations of a performance audit by the Belgian Court of Audit of the policy measures against prison overcrowding, and discusses the merits and limitations of its specific managerial approach. The following policy measures were included in the audit: reduction of pre-trial detention, community service as an alternative for imprisonment, electronic surveillance, new infrastructure for increasing prison capacity, an alternative approach for detainees with mental health problems, expulsion of foreign prisoners, and conditional and provisional release. Our research questions focused on the quality of public administration, in each stage of the policy cycle. The audit showed that the main causes of the persistent prison overcrowding are not to be found at management level, but rather at the level of policy-making.