Prisoners serving sentences of up to 1 year are ordinarily placed in neighborhood prisons and are placed in open prisons unless security or program needs require a different placement. The law has been criticized for insufficiently defining prisoners' rights and allowing too much discretionary decisionmaking by correctional personnel, but prisoners are aware of and use the appeal mechanisms provided in the law. Inmate grievances are handled first within the institution and can also be appealed or sent to the Justice Ombudsman. Prisons are required to work or obtain education. Discipline is generally handled informally, and solitary confinement is not permitted as a punishment. Extensive inmate visits, letters, and telephoning are permitted. Reforms recently proposed include the classification and operation of prisons at four security levels, administrative reorganization, and reducing the levels of imprisonment by changing the definitions of offense seriousness and making conditional release mandatory after two-thirds of a prison sentence has been served. Tables and 35 references