On 14 October, Alison Hannah, PRI’s Executive Director, gave a presentation at a discussion hosted by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the abolition of the death penalty and Sharia Law. The aim was to explore the role of Sharia in the death penalty and the criminal justice systems of Muslim countries in the […]
18th October 2015
بناءً على قناعات راسخه في وجداني، كنت وما زلت من المدافعين عن حق الإنسان في الحياة، وأن ينعم بالكرامة المتأصلة فيه، ولم أتوانى في يوم من الأيام عن المشاركة في الفعاليات التي تدعو إلى مناهضة عقوبة الإعدام، بل ولم أقبل كناشطة أن يبرر الحكم أو تنفيذ هذه العقوبة تحت أي ظرف من الظروف أو بأي […]
12th October 2015
In a recent report on over-incarceration and overcrowding, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights argued that that custodial sentences should be imposed as measures of last resort and applied proportionately to meet a pressing societal need. A recent visit to East Africa by Rob Allen illustrated that much more needs to be done if that […]
7th October 2015
Foreign national prisoners often suffer disproportionately in the criminal justice system. They may have to negotiate prison life whilst contending with a different culture, language and without the regular family contact or visitors other prisoners may enjoy. As the number of foreign nationals in prison is considerable in many countries, the issue of the transfer […]
25th September 2015
Pre-trial services, a non-custodial alternative to pre-trial detention whereby defendants are monitored in the community, were first introduced in Mexico in 2011. A Mexican non-governmental organisation − the Instituto de Justicia Procesal Penal (IJPP) − was instrumental in establishing the first pre-trial service in the country in the state of Morelos, and has supported their development in ten […]
23rd September 2015
PRI’s Executive Director, Alison Hannah, attended the Nigerian Bar Association annual conference last week in Abuja. She was interested to hear the President’s call for lawyers in this populous country to champion the rule of law and tackle corruption, and says that lawyers can also play their part in ensuring that the rule of law […]
11th September 2015
In late August, PRI brought together members of local criminal justice agencies across Jinja, Mbale and Iganga, Uganda, in order to raise awareness and promote community service as an alternative to imprisoning people for petty crimes. Police, Prison and Probation Officers as well as Court Clerks took part in a day of discussion and learning […]
1st September 2015
‘Tough on crime’ policies are often justified on the basis that putting people in prison for longer is what victims want and deserve. In 2013, Californians for Safety and Justice, which campaigns for more effective public safety policy − conducted a survey to find out whether this was what victims in California actually did want. The results turned the established narrative […]
25th August 2015
Women have a number of difficulties when they come to face to face with the legal system in Sierra Leone. Their low levels of education and literacy make seemingly simple things − understanding a charge or signing a confession − extremely problematic. Women were also among the vulnerable groups that fared worst under the state of emergency measures brought in to […]
7th August 2015
Last week, Nikhil Roy, PRI’s Director of Programme Development, visited Mayuge District in rural Eastern Uganda, to meet various players in the district’s community service programme and to attend a meeting for local stakeholders. Mayuge is one district selected as part of a pilot project supported by PRI in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Prisons in all three countries are severely overcrowded […]
5th August 2015