Since the end of the 1980s, Sweden's penal system is based on a model of "just deserts". The perceived gravity of the offense or the penal value is the most important factor in the decision of an appropriate sanction for the crime.

The development of penal law aims to reduce the use of shorter prison sentences by finding alternatives that don't entail the deprivation of a person's liberty. In the Prison Treatment Act of 1974, Sweden has, as the primary goal of the prison sentence, to promote the inmate's adjustment to the community and to counteract the detrimental effects of imprisonment.

The Philippine prison system proves the worst of possible worlds even compounded by pre-trial detention in our judicial system.Prisoners serve time that outweighs their crimes; on average they are detained for nine months without being sentenced; a phenomenal 75 percent of incarcerations are pre-trial (i.e. 141,422 of 188,278 prisoners, per 2018 data).

Adding insult to injury, about 200 inmates die annually at the New Bilibid Prison.

The high rate of deaths is due to overcrowding, dirty or poor living conditions, and inmate violence. These contribute to an outbreak of pulmonary tuberculosis. Due to the lack of nutritional food and basic healthcare, at least one prisoner dies at NBP each day.

The Swedish prison system is the best in the world. The correctional system's operations demonstrate a humane attitude, good care of and active influence upon the prisoner, observing a high degree of security as well as by due reference to the prisoner's integrity and to due process.

Its operations are directed towards measures that influence the prisoner not to commit further crimes.Predominantly, the objective is to promote and maintain the humane treatment of offenders without jeopardizing security.

Under the Swedish system, here are the prisoners' rights consistent with a rights-based approach to social development, viz: (1) contacts with the outside world; (2) education; (3) prison labor; (4) leisure activities; (5) religion and faith; (6) medical treatment of prisoners; (7) medical treatment of drug addicts; and (8) treatment programs.

Obliquely, America is a pioneer in the "punishment industry" with total US corrections budget of $10 billion a year. This is for 5,000 institutions for holding adults in custody; 33,000 local and county jails; 700 state prisons, work farms, and other secure facilities; and several hundred halfway houses, federal prisons, and detention centers for illegal aliens. Its rate of recidivism is pegged at 50 percent, and it costs the government $25 to $31 per inmate per day.