Full list of countries without jails

By Patrick Igwe

Across countries, jails are often seen as a necessary part of the justice system. Jails are often seen as cold, unforgiving places, but behind the bars are human lives, people who have made mistakes, many of them shaped by difficult circumstances, poverty, or lack of guidance.

While society views jails as a way to maintain order and safety, it’s important to remember that incarceration can carry deep emotional weight, not just for those inside but also for their families who wait on the outside. Every inmate is someone’s child, sibling, or parent, and showing empathy means recognizing that punishment alone rarely heals. True justice comes when systems balance accountability with compassion, offering chances for rehabilitation, education, and a path to start over.

Although no nation has completely done away with prisons, Yet, there are a few nations that operate without traditional incarceration facilities, or have reduced reliance on these traditional incarceration methods, especially in cases of non-violent offenses. These approaches aim to hold people accountable while avoiding the lasting damage of imprisonment. In several European countries like Estonia, France, and Germany, community service is used to ensure offenders contribute positively to society.

Financial penalties, such as fines, are another common tool in places like Germany and Finland, offering a practical solution without confinement. Some countries, including France and Ukraine, rely on electronic monitoring or house arrest to limit a person’s movements while still allowing them to live outside prison walls. In Indonesia and elsewhere, restorative justice has gained ground, emphasizing rehabilitation and healing by encouraging dialogue and reconciliation between offenders, victims, and communities. These alternatives highlight that justice can be achieved in ways that focus less on punishment and more on transformation.

These countries rely on alternative methods of justice or agreements with neighboring states to handle serious offenders.

It’s worth noting that some Nordic countries such as Norway, Iceland, and Finland are sometimes mistakenly thought to have no prisons. In reality, they do, but their prison systems are designed around rehabilitation rather than punishment. Facilities are often open and humane, with a focus on reintegrating offenders back into society rather than locking them away.

With all that being said, there are only two countries without permanent jails. Let’s briefly talk about these two nations and how they oeprate without any permanent prison facility.

Vatican City

Vatican City, the world’s smallest sovereign state, does not maintain permanent prisons. Instead, it has only temporary holding cells for very short-term detentions. When someone is convicted of a crime, they are handed over to the Italian authorities under the terms of the Lateran Treaty. Italy then takes responsibility for their incarceration, with the Vatican covering the cost.

Liechtenstein

Similarly, Liechtenstein, a tiny principality between Switzerland and Austria, does not have its own long-term prison facilities. It has holding cells for minor offenses, but when serious crimes occur, offenders are sent to neighboring countries to serve their sentences. While only Vatican City and Liechtenstein completely lack permanent prisons, several other nations are notable for their exceptionally small prison systems or alternative justice approaches.

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