27 February 2008

PRI has published a Compendium of Comparative Prison Legislation, which aims to provide legislators, government officials, prison administrators and all concerned with penal reform with positive, realistic and contemporary examples of national laws from around the world.

The publication originated from the need to identify and compile exemplary pieces of national legislation that demonstrate different drafting techniques, approaches, good practices and trends in the field of penal reform. Initially developed by PRI’s programme in Central, East and Southern Africa, it has since been revised for use as a tool outside of the African continent.

The Compendium is structured thematically, with each chapter containing extracts from relevant international and regional standards relating to the treatment of prisoners, as well as a commentary on their application. National legislation is grouped by region and translations are provided where available.

The intention is to update the publication on a regular basis as new examples of good legislation are identified or developed.

Further Information
The Compendium of Comparative Prison Legislation was prepared by Dirk van Zyl Smit and Adam Stapleton with Dilafruz Nazarova. It was funded by the Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, France.

To provide comments on the publication, or to forward further examples of legislation for inclusion in a second edition, please contact: publications@penalreform.org