News

Featured News

Women in prison trained in business skills receive startup capital in Uganda

On 13 June, 26 women from Mbale Women’s Prison were certified in small business management. The women, who had completed one month’s training in business development, entrepreneurship and strategic business planning, also received startup capital ranging from Shs3m to Shs7m, to launch their own business to support themselves and their families upon release. At the ceremony, one of the beneficiaries said, “When I was […]

News

PRI at the 14th UN Crime Congress

The rescheduled 14th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will be held from 7 – 12 March 2021 in Kyoto, Japan under the overall theme “Advancing crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda”. The UN ‘Crime Congress’, held once every five years since 1955, […]

News

Life imprisonment in a constitutional democracy

On 4 June 2020, Professor Dirk van Zyl Smit gave the ‘Roger Hood’ Lecture at the University of Oxford. Titled ‘The People Strike Back? Life imprisonment and other ultimate penalties in a constitutional democracy’ the lecture looked into the fight of penal reformers to make ultimate penalties more humane. Penal reformers ‘sought, with some success, […]

News

Webinar: Launch of Global Prison Trends 2020

Prisons and justice systems are facing unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 global pandemic. At this launch event for PRI’s new report Global Prison Trends 2020, international leaders and experts will address chronic issues that have led to this human rights and public health crisis with people in prison being so vulnerable – and critically, […]

News

Our ambitions for 2020-2023

This year PRI is celebrating 30 years of accomplishments in developing and promoting fair and effective criminal justice systems across the world. Today, we set our trajectory for the coming decade, launching our new strategy for 2020-2023. The decade we are entering will determine whether the world is able to sustain and promote human rights, […]

News

Event: Trends and Efforts Addressing Life Imprisonment in the United States and Around the World

Event invitation: Tuesday, 15th of October 2019 Venue: Open Society Foundations, 224 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019 Refreshments at Noon, with the panel from 12:30-2pm Download the event flyer here. Penal Reform International’s Global Prison Trends 2019, published in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice, found that prison populations continue to rise […]

News

We are 30!

Over 30 years, we have had many successes, working in more than 90 countries. We are proud of our past achievements and look forward to the years ahead.      We believe in what Nelson Mandela said: “No one really truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.” We believe that […]

News

PRI to launch Global Prison Trends on 21 May 2019

Alongside the Thailand Institute for Justice, PRI will launch the fifth edition of Global Prison Trends on Wednesday 21 May 2019, at the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Global Prison Trends outlines key developments and trends in the use and management of imprisonment worldwide. In 2019, the 52-page report will also contain […]

News

The right to hope: PRI co-hosts international strategy forum on life imprisonment

This week, Penal Reform International and the University of Nottingham organised an international civil society strategy forum on life imprisonment, which took place in London from 11–12 December 2018. The two-day forum brought together key civil society actors (alongside stakeholders from academic institutions) from around the world to discuss and strategise how to tackle the […]

News

Experts discuss Global Prison Trends at London panel event

Yesterday, Penal Reform International hosted an expert panel event in London to mark the UK launch of Global Prison Trends 2018. Published last month, Global Prison Trends 2018 is the fourth edition in PRI’s annual flagship Global Prison Trends series. The panel event, which took place at Linklaters LLP, brought together experts to discuss the most urgent and emerging issues […]