Blog

Failed drug policies in Latin America: the impact on prisons and human rights

Around the world, attempts at controlling the use and sale of drugs through criminal sanctions have resulted in extreme levels of incarceration for drug-related offences, serious overcrowding in prisons, deterioration of prison conditions, increased violence inside and outside prison, and depleted resources available for rehabilitation, education or treatment. In Latin America, for example, nearly a third of all detainees […]

Luciana Pol, CELS, Argentina24th April 2015

“Why didn’t you just leave your husband?” Responding to crimes by women who are victims themselves

Research from around the globe shows that a high number of women in prison have experienced violence in their lives prior to prison and that it is an indirect or direct cause of offending. PRI’s Programme Officer, Olivia Rope, says that the five years on since the adoption of the UN Bangkok Rules it is […]

Olivia Rope23rd April 2015

Introducing a valuable new tool for detention monitors

The Association for the Prevention of Torture has recently launched a new database of international and regional standards, information, guidance and helpful tips to assist prison monitors as well as prison authorities and others engaged both in running and observing prisons. Here, APT’s Detention Advisor, Jean-Sébastien Blanc, explains why this resource is needed and what it offers […]

Jean-Sébastien Blanc, APT22nd April 2015

Prisoner consultation can contribute to the smooth running of prisons

Many jurisdictions permit prison councils involving both prisoners and staff to have input into the way that prisons are run. In this penultimate blog in our year-long series, Kimmett Edgar, Head of Research at the UK charity, the Prison Reform Trust, says that self-advocacy roles for prisoners have a wide range of benefits. Service provision can be better informed […]

Kimmett Edgar25th March 2015

Human rights bodies need to look at the overuse of imprisonment

PRI’s Policy Director, Andrea Huber, says that the overuse of imprisonment, prison overcrowding and the poor state of the world’s prisons are inextricably linked. Human rights bodies should start to address the chief drivers of prison overcrowding – in particular excessive reliance on pre-trial detention and custodial sentences for minor, non-violent offences. If they don’t, they will continue to document […]

Andrea Huber23rd March 2015

Fair and effective criminal justice systems enable and underpin sustainable development

On 25 February, PRI’s Executive Director, Alison Hannah, took part in a UN High Level General Assembly Thematic Debate on Integrating Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The aim of the discussion was to tackle the challenges for sustainable development posed by transnational crime organised crime, illicit trafficking and corruption. Most speakers […]

Alison Hannah4th March 2015

How can criminal justice systems from police to probation address the medical and social care needs of elderly prisoners?

The number of older prisoners in prison populations is growing in many countries, in part due to ageing populations and often in part to punitive sentencing policies. However, older prisoners are more likely than their peers in the community to be disabled, to have multiple, costly chronic health conditions, and experience age-related cognitive impairment including […]

Cyrus Ahalt and Brie Williams25th February 2015

Prison systems need to acknowledge widespread corruption

In the ninth of our expert blog series, former UK prison governor and criminal justice expert, John Podmore, says that recognition that corruption is a widespread problem in prison systems – and subsequent action to tackle it – is long overdue. While we recognise that there is corruption in politics, business, sport and most other […]

John Podmore25th January 2015

New research suggests Albania needs a more gender-sensitive justice and penal policy

Like in many countries, women in conflict with the law in Albania are neglected as policies are drafted with only the male majority of offenders in mind, creating an urgent need for greater consideration of women’s needs in criminal justice and penal policy. Between 2010 and 2013 as part of her PhD thesis, Edlira Papavangjeli, Program […]

Edlira Papavangjeli, Albanian Helsinki Committee15th January 2015

Recommended New Year reading from PRI: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

For the second time in the past three months, PRI has been sent a book that gives a devastating insight into the dysfunctional workings of the American criminal justice system. In the first, Nancy Mullane, also a winner in our international journalism competition last year, interviews a number of prisoners and  follows their attempts to […]

Alison Hannah8th January 2015