Created in 1989, Penal Reform International is more indispensable than ever and in the current decade and plays a key role in the renewal of global human rights because our work reinforces the foundations of the rule of law and good governance.
In PRI’s 30 years of existence, we have learned that we believe in more than a set of international human rights standards that guide our work:
- We believe in a set of values and must live up to these internally and externally.
- We believe that safe societies are built when the rights of every individual are recognised, whatever criminal offence they may have committed
- We believe societies grow healthier when sentences are proportionate and their primary purpose is rehabilitation, not retribution.
On those basis, we adopted a strategy for the period 2020-2023. Through the priorities highlighted in this strategy and the practical reform approach we offer, we will challenge policies that lead to prison overcrowding and will engage in offering alternatives to detention. Our strategy sets as priority for PRI to seek to prevent the harms that prison and criminal justice systems can cause to those in contact with the law, as well as their families and society at large.
We also want to ensure that our own work and our interventions do not cause harm or suffering to those in the criminal justice system. Acknowledging that we work in a challenging environment and are required to witness the harms that criminal justice systems cause, we also endeavour to ensure that our interventions and management do not harm ourselves.
Our strategy sets out ambitious goals for criminal justice systems and ourselves in 2020-2023 – to achieve them, we need your support:
Our ‘Issues’ page contains further information about the specific areas in which we work.