While in prison, you must be provided with clothes and bedding appropriate for the season. This is important to keep you healthy and to ensure a socially acceptable appearance.
Therefore, the prison administration must ensure that you have at least the following minimum items:
The prison administration must ensure that you have proper clothing. If you don’t have your own clothes, the prison administration must provide them. Upon release, you must return clothes, provided to you by the prison administration. You are also allowed to buy clothing in the prison shop. The number and type of clothing and underwear that you can possess are stipulated in the list of permitted items and objects that the convicted and detained persons may possess and use, approved by the Minister of Justice.
Appropriate clothing
Your clothing must be appropriate. This means that it must fulfil two basic functions:
- It has to be suitable for the climate
Therefore, you must be given clothing which protects your health - keeps you warm in winter and is light enough for a hot summer.
- The clothing must ensure a socially acceptable appearance
The provided clothes don’t have to be new, but they should be of an appropriate size and should not be dirty or overly worn.
According to Bulgarian law, in sunny days during outdoor activities, male prisoners can remain without a shirt and female prisoners can be dressed with a suitable summer top.
Type of clothing
You are allowed to wear your personal clothing, regardless of your regime or sentence.Therere are no uniforms.
Cleanliness
You should have the opportunity to keep your clothes clean. According to Bulgarian law, prison authorities are under an obligation to create appropriate conditions for prisoners to wash their clothes and underwear. Prison medical specialists in Bulgaria fulfil the duties of health inspectorates and can make prescriptions with regard to the cleanness and suitability prisoners’ clothes.
You must have a separate bed with sufficient and appropriate bedding. This means you must have all the items that a person needs for sleeping.
The bedding must be:
- Appropriate for the climate
- Clean when issued
- Kept in good order
- Changed often enough to ensure its cleanliness
According to Bulgarian law, prison authorities are under an obligation to create appropriate conditions for prisoners to wash their bedding.
Prohibition against inhumane or degrading treatment
If you don’t have any bedding or clothes, or if they are inappropriate, this might lead to a violation of the prohibition against inhuman or degrading treatment. However, the effect that such a situation leaves on your physical and mental condition must reach a certain minimum level of severity. Minor deviations from the norm will not necessarily result in a human rights violation.
example If you were not given a blanket or a pillow for a month, it would most probably result in a violation of your rights. However, if you didn’t have a pillowcase on your pillow for a couple of days, most likely this would not be a violation of your rights.
Read more about how to evaluate whether your rights have been violated.
How to complain
If you believe that your rights have been violated, you might complain to the prison administration, to the director of Directorate General “Execution of Punishments” or to the prosecutor. You might also submit a request for the termination of the violation or a claim for compensation of the damages suffered to the administrative court.
Read more about how to complain.