Eight years in the making, the UN Principles and Guidelines on Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems were formally adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December. PRI’s Executive Director reflects on their importance and on the task of implementation that lies ahead. PRI has been involved throughout the process. 2012 ended on a positive note with the news that […]
3rd January 2013
Becky Randel reports from the Reentry Court at Harlem Community Justice Center where participants are re-convicted at a rate that is 19% lower than a comparison group on standard parole. During a recent visit to New York I had the opportunity to visit the Harlem Community Justice Center, run by the Center for Court Innovation. Housed in […]
15th December 2012
Promising progress is being made towards the greater user of community service orders in Uganda, but some challenges remain. PRI consultant Rob Allen reports from a recent PRI training course for magistrates in Mbarara in the west of the country. Mbarara in Western Uganda was the venue this week for the latest in a series […]
1st December 2012
In many nations of the world, prisons are used in large part for what was their original purpose – not as a punishment or correctional measure but to hold suspects and defendants until they can be tried in court. In more than fifty countries, the majority of people in prison on any one day are […]
30th November 2012
While prison reform has hardly figured in the US Presidential campaign, there are signs that America’s love affair with incarceration may be coming to an end…. Read Rob Allen’s full blog on Justice for Prisons.
6th November 2012
PRI Programme Officer Jenny Clarkin reports from Uzbekistan on a PRI training programme for social workers and members of the judiciary to improve the care and protection of children at risk. Leaving London behind on a mild autumn morning I embarked on the long journey to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. I’m here because PRI are currently working […]
25th October 2012
PRI’s Executive Director, Alison Hannah, reports from Kazakhstan where PRI brought together a forum of policy-makers, national and international experts to support local authorities deliver effective reintegration services for ex-prisoners. The government of Kazakhstan handed over responsibility for the reintegration of ex-prisoners to local authorities a couple of years ago. However, many authorities have experienced […]
20th October 2012
Alison Hannah, PRI’s Executive Director, reports from a workshop for magistrates in Kisumu in Kenya’s Western Province. About ten years ago, PRI worked with local partners in a number of East African countries to help develop and support community service orders (CSOs) as an alternative to imprisonment. CSOs offer a more effective and humane way […]
5th October 2012
For the past week, PRI has delivered training on human rights in prison management for prison and corrections staff, in the beautiful Solomon Islands of the South Pacific. The training was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and attended by representatives from Australia and a number of island countries: Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, […]
1st June 2012
On 23rd May 2012, Penal Reform International held a round table in Shymkent on the topic of ‘The system of re-socialisation of ex-prisoners in Kazakhstan: effective methods of coordination of the powers of state agencies’. The round table was within the framework of the PRI project ‘Rehabilitation of ex-prisoners and protection of their human rights by mutual […]
23rd May 2012