Corrections Directorate (Palestine)

The Corrections Directorate (Arabic: ادارة السجون idārat as-sujūn) is the Palestinian government agency responsible for the administration of prisons and related correctional infrastructure in the republic. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior, which oversees other agencies like the Palestine National Police. The directorate also operates the republic's probation and parole system.

Departments

 * Correctional Inspectorate: Supervises the work of all correctional departments and agencies on behalf of the Director-General of Corrections.
 * Detention Facilities Administration Department: Responsible for operating the nation's standard minimum- to maximum-security correctional facilities; current government policy stresses penal labour for serious criminals and rehabilitation for convicts with mental health or substance abuse issues, with traditional incarceration being actively phased out.
 * Detention Camps Administration Department: Responsible for the system of penal labour colonies.
 * Criminal Rehabilitation Department: Operates the system of inpatient rehabilitation programs for convicts with mental health issues and drug or alcohol dependencies; most facilities are staffed by the National Health Authority, but the correctional rehab system itself is overseen by the department, with correctional officers providing security.
 * Judicial Department: Supervises inmates in courthouses and transports inmates and other persons in custody between courthouses and other facilities.
 * Correctional Liaison Office: Coordinates policy and operations with other levels of incarceration not under the jurisdiction of the Director of Corrections, such as jails operated by the National Police.
 * Probation and Parole Office: Responsible for granting parole to formerly incarcerated individuals and monitoring individuals on probation and parole.

Ranks
Each prison or similar correctional facility has a single correctional officer in charge of all other officers, who is called the warden/governor (المأمول al-ma’mūl); there is also a single correctional officer called the deputy governor (نائب المأمول na’ib al-ma’mūl), commonly known as just the deputy (النائب an-nā’ib). All other correctional staff are classified as either senior officers (ضباط كبيرة ḍubāṭ kabīrah; sg. ضابط كبير ḍābiṭ kabīr) or junior officers (ضباط صغيرة ḍubāṭ ṣaghīrah; sg. ضابط صغير ḍābiṭ ṣaghīr), with junior officers reporting to senior officers, and all officers reporting to the deputy governor who subsequently reports to the governor.

Above the rank of governor is the office of superintendent (مساعد musā‘id), which unlike in the police is not an officer rank but rather an administrative post; correctional superintendents are responsible for supervising multiple prisons and facilities under Corrections Directorate jurisdiction within a particular geographical area, called a correctional district (مقاطعة السجون muqāṭa‘at as-sujūn; pl. مقاطعات السجون muqāṭa‘āt as-sujūn); the governor/warden of each facility reports to the respective superintendent, who in turn reports to the Director of Corrections or to his deputy. Superintendents are appointed by the Director of Corrections, while governors/wardens of individual prisons are generally appointed by the respective superintendent.

Superintendents, the Director of Corrections and his deputy, and other directorate administrative staff do not wear uniforms, but rather formal business attire. Correctional personnel, by contrast, do wear a uniform, consisting of black slacks, black laced shoes, a white buttoned shirt with black tie, a belt sporting key rings, baton and other holsters, radio, and a black vest with epaulettes buttoned over vest straps to display rank. Junior officers have a single small silver diamond shape on the epaulettes, senior officers two, and the deputy governor three; the governor's epaulettes sport a single golden five-pointed star.