Solitary confinement
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Solitary confinement is a punishment or special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, excluding members of prison staff. It is considered by some as a form of psychological torture. It is usually cited as an additional measure of protection (of society) from the criminal. It is also used as a form of protective custody.

Solitary confinement is colloquially referred to in American English as the 'hole', 'lockdown', the 'SHU' (pronounced 'shoe') or the 'pound', and in British English as the 'block' or the 'cooler'

This is a kind of imprisonment which secludes the prisoner from any intercourse or sight of, and communication with other prisoners. it may be accompanied with or without labour.

Section 73 of pakistan penal code provides that whenever any person is convicted of an offence for which under the code the court has power to sentence him to rigorous imprisonment , the court may by its sentence , order that the offender shall be kept in solitary confinement for any portion or portions of the imprisonment to which he is sntenced, not exceeding three months in the whole.



TERM OF IMPRISONMENT SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
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** Not exceeding six months ** a time not exceeding one month
**exceeding 6 months but not exceeding one month ** time not exceeding two months
** exceeding oe year ** time not exceeding three months




It is clear from the above that a sentence inflicting solitary confinement for the whole term of imprisonment is illegal. It must bear only a portion of the term of imprisonment.


Section 74 of the code further limits the solitary confinement by providing that in executing a sentence of solitary confinement , such confinement shall in no case exceed fourteen days at a time, with intervals between the periods of solitary confinement of not less duration than such periods, and when the imprisonment awarded shall exceed three months, the solitary confinement shall not exceed seven days in any month of the whole imprisonment awarded, with intervals between the periods of solitary confinement of not less duration than such periods.

Solitary confinement as a ruleis not ordered unless there are special features appearing in the commission of the offence.



Use and criticism
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Those who accept the practice consider it necessary for prisoners who are considered dangerous to other people ("the most predatory" prisoners), those who might be capable of leading crime groups even from within, or those who are kept 'incommunicado' for purported reasons of national security. Finally, it may be used for prisoners who are at high risk of being attacked by other inmates, such as pedophiles, celebrities, or witnesses who are in prison themselves. This latter form of solitary confinement is sometimes referred to as protective custody.