Luxembourg’s detention watchdog has said its recommendations are still slowed by legal, regulatory and infrastructure barriers, even when authorities respond quickly to smaller operational fixes.
The warning came as Luxembourg Ombudsman 
Its work in 2025 exposed recurring gaps in infrastructure, healthcare access and specialised support for people deprived of liberty, from prisons and psychiatric units to youth detention and the new migration screening system.
“Things are not moving quickly enough. Small, one-off adjustments are made quickly, but often these are structural problems that would require changes to a Grand Ducal regulation or to the law,” said Lynn Bertrand, a CELPL detention monitor.
The watchdog now plans to increase follow-up work, checking one or two years after publication what has been implemented and what remains outstanding.
Temporary checks
CELPL carried out several control missions in 2025, including a first report on the Uerschterhaff prison, a follow-up report on the UNISEC secure unit for minors and a report on the situation of women in prison.
It also published a thematic file on the planned prison for minors, a general recommendation on restraint measures in psychiatry and an opinion on youth-law reform after government amendments to bills on youth protection and criminal law for minors.
One of the body’s newest responsibilities comes from Luxembourg’s implementation of the European migration and asylum pact. CELPL made a first visit on Monday to the screening centre set up by the immigration directorate, Konsbruck said.
The centre was still operating as a first-stage, temporary arrangement in two small rooms at the immigration directorate, with opening hours limited to 8am to noon. The system provides for security, vulnerability and health checks, but the health check was not yet in place because the health ministry had not yet been able to assign staff.
Konsbruck said the authorities needed to make the necessary means available quickly so the centre could operate as intended, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with all the checks provided for by law.
Thirty on paper
Youth detention remains one of CELPL’s most sensitive concerns. Konsbruck said 28 minors were placed at Luxembourg prison in 2025 when UNISEC, which has 12 places, was full, a situation the watchdog continued to deplore.
CELPL cannot itself solve that capacity problem, beyond repeatedly raising it in reports and with the justice ministry. The planned prison for minors is intended to hold minors who have committed criminal offences, but the watchdog has questioned whether its current design will meet their needs.
The future centre is planned with 30 places. CELPL is not asking for a higher number, Bertrand said, but wants the support provided there to match the needs of different minors.
“The number of 30 is only theoretical, because so many groups will have to be kept separate, whether girls and boys or people in pre-trial detention and those who have been convicted,” Bertrand said.
The centre risked filling up quickly if different blocks had to be used for different profiles, she said. A scientific study of real needs would have given the authorities, Luxembourg’s parliament and CELPL a factual basis for assessing the system, and the watchdog regretted the rejection of a motion seeking such monitoring.
Unequal care
Women prisoners face a separate structural disadvantage, according to CELPL. Unlike men in pre-trial detention, women do not have a dedicated facility outside Luxembourg prison, meaning they remain concentrated at the site even after the opening of Uerschterhaff reduced pressure elsewhere in the prison system.
Konsbruck said women were held in a single block and often shared cells with two or three people. That concentration left them disadvantaged compared with men, she said.
Health, therapeutic care and access to treatment are among the priorities CELPL examines during visits. There have been improvements, Bertrand said, but women remain excluded from part of the therapeutic care available at Luxembourg prison.
“Women are excluded from a large part of the therapeutic offer that exists at Luxembourg prison,” Bertrand said.
That includes a psychiatric unit offering broader support, such as occupational therapy and discussion groups, which is accessible only to men. Women with mental-health or psychological needs could also benefit from such services, Bertrand said.
Another gap is the continued absence of a socio-judicial psychiatric unit, which was provided for in the 2018 prison reform but has not been created. CELPL said the need for such a structure existed and that some detainees could benefit from it.
Wider reach
CELPL also wants its remit to extend to places where people are held de facto rather than under a judicial or administrative decision, including some homes for disabled people and older people.
A related bill was submitted by LSAP MP Dan Biancalana on 1 April 2025. CELPL has issued an opinion on the proposal and hopes it can be examined rapidly by Luxembourg’s parliament.
