The Justice Department refuses to allocate a budget for new prisons
The Ministry of Justice denied monitoring credits for the creation of new detention units confirming that the prison and reform budget of 566 million dinars is directed to management, rent and maintenance.
The Ministry of Justice, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, denied the validity of what was being negotiated about allocating a budget to build new prisons under the Finance Bill for 2027. This clarification came after a joint hearing held at the Parliamentary Headquarters in Bardo, where the Public Legislation Committee met with the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and the Internal Order Committee of the National Council of Governments and Regions to discuss the mission of justice.
The ministry explained that the appropriations of 566 million and 773 thousand dinars cover the entire prison and reform program budget. This money is allocated to the cost of renting out a cottage and running daily facilities along with feeding the depositors and providing healthcare for them within existing units.
The ministry stressed that infrastructure development programmes only include periodic setup and maintenance of existing facilities to enable them to operate on a regular basis. He rejected the programming of any new detention facility projects within the financial estimates for this mission.
The total proposed budget for the Ministry of Justice's mission for 2027 is about 1.112 billion dinars versus about 1.025 billion dinars in 2026, accounting for about 1.61% of total state spending. The budget items are still being discussed within the joint parliamentary committees ahead of their presentation to the General Meeting for approval before the end of December 2026.
