Pre-Trial Detention and Prison Overcrowding in Madagascar: A Comparative Glimpse with Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines how pre-trial detention, judicial delay and the limited use of non-custodial measures contribute to structural prison overcrowding in Madagascar and Indonesia. It asks three questions: (1) What do recent prison statistics show about the scale and main drivers of overcrowding in both countries? (2) How do their constitutional and legislative frameworks regulate pre-trial detention, “reasonable time” of trial and alternatives to custody? and (3) To what extent does the combined reading of law and data comply with constitutional and international standards on liberty and humane treatment? Methodologically, the study adopts a normative–juridical and comparative design, combining doctrinal analysis of constitutions, codes of criminal procedure, prison and juvenile justice laws with secondary quantitative data from the World Prison Brief on prison population, occupancy and pre-trial detention from the early 2000s to 2025. The findings show that Madagascar’s system operates at almost three times its official capacity, with pre-trial detainees representing around half of all prisoners, while Indonesia, although less overcrowded in relative terms, still functions at nearly double capacity and holds a substantial remand population. In both jurisdictions, legal frameworks formally present pre-trial detention as exceptional and recognise a wide catalogue of non-custodial measures, yet these safeguards are only partially effective in practice, especially for women and children. The article concludes that the central problem is the gap between law “on the books” and law “in action” and argues for targeted reforms to reduce unnecessary remand, strengthen judicial oversight and mainstream non-custodial sanctions in line with ICCPR standards and Sustainable Development Goal 16.

Keywords: pre-trial detention, prison overcrowding, Madagascar, Indonesia, comparative study