Electronic Tagging System To Be Applied On Algerian Prisoners
Tipaza Court (Western Algeria) will start, on Sunday, the application of the system “Prisoners under electronic surveillance in an official capacity by using the electronic bracelets”, which carries an electronic slide that is placed in the ankle of a prosecuted person, during the period of investigation, to relieve overcrowding in the penal institutions, and to support the social and professional integration, which would promote human rights and the presumption of being not guilty, and the principles of fair trial, which will be gradually circulated to the primary courts at the Judicial Council of Tipaza province before it will become national.
General Manager of the modernization at the Justice Ministry, Aka Abdelhakim, said in his presentation of the goals and advantages of the adoption of electronic monitoring mechanism, its technical arrangements, and the technical characteristics of the electronic bracelet, and how to use it, which was held at the Judicial Court of Tipaza, that the ministry has adopted this system, and Algeria is the first Arab country and the second African country, after South Africa, as part of the judicial control to strengthen the exceptional nature of the temporary imprisonment and the judicial control, and extend and promote the rights and freedoms, notably the presumption of innocence and the principles of the fair trial.
“The new system will also help in the investigation procedures and ease the pressure on the penal institutions, and support the social and professional integration policy, by enabling the bracelet holder from practicing the profession or studies, and to avoid hatred and contempt of the society, and for the protection from the psychological and behavioral deviation.”
“Procedures of placing people under electronic surveillance are ordered by the competent authorities like the investigation judge, juvenile court judges, and the judge in charge of procedures for the immediate appearance in a room of charge, which determine the territorial boundaries for the holder of the electronic, when preventing him/her from going to certain places, and seeing certain people or meeting them, staying protected in an institution that is designated by the judge, being prevented from leaving the place of residence, but in specific terms and timings, as the bracelet will be placed on the ankle level by an office for this purpose at the level of the court, which has the task of ensuring continuous monitoring by the judicial police services”.
Electronic tagging is a form of surveillance which uses an electronic device (a tag) fitted to the person. It is commonly used as a form of electronically monitored punishment for people who have been sentenced to electronic monitoring by a court, or required to wear a tag upon release from prison. However, electronic tagging and monitoring is also used in healthcare settings with people with dementia and in immigration contexts in some jurisdictions. If the device is based on GPS technology, it is usually attached to a person by a probation officer, law enforcement or a private monitoring services company field officer, and is capable of tracking the wearer’s location wherever there is the satellite signal to do so. Electronic monitoring tags can be also used in combination with curfews to confine defendants or offenders to their homes as a condition of bail, as a stand-alone order or as a form of early release from prison. The combination of electronic monitoring with a curfew usually relies on radio frequency (RF) technology, which differs from GPS technology.
The portable device is operatively coupled to a monitoring system through a wireless telephone network. The portable device transmits periodically encrypted location information as well as status information across the wireless network to the monitoring system. The monitoring system tracks the location of the individual and alerts the appropriate authorities when the individual violates a rule, such as a condition for parole. The portable device increases the time between transmissions when the individual is within a specified home location and reduces the time between transmissions when outside the specified location.