Archive

Commission on Narcotic Drugs calls for Implementation of Bangkok Rules

At its 55th Session held in Vienna in March 2012, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs passed a resolution which calls on states to address the specific needs of women in drug demand reduction programmes and strategies including – where the needs of women offenders are concerned – by implementing the Bangkok Rules. As the circumstances […]

Regional Forum on Combating and Preventing Torture and Ill-Treatment

The South Caucasus Regional Office of Penal Reform International (PRI), in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), is organizing a regional forum on March 22-23 at the Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel in Tbilisi. The regional forum will focus on pressing issues in the field of torture prevention, the effectiveness […]

Raising the Bangkok Rules in Geneva

On 6 March 2012, Penal Reform International (PRI), the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN, the Quaker UN Office (QUNO) and OMCT (World Organisation Against Torture) hosted a side event to promote the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), adopted by the UN […]

PRI MENA welcomes the signing of a MoU by the Tunisian Ministry of Justice

On 25 February 2012 Penal Reform International, Middle East and North Africa signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Justice in Tunis. The MoU stipulates direct cooperation and partnership with Tunisian government and non government institutions, and with the Tunisian Organization for Penal and security Reform, as a local partner representing Tunisian civil society institutions. […]

Paralegal activity in Rwanda: a case study

This case study documents the experience of Penal Reform International running a pilot paralegal programme in Rwanda from 2009 to 2010. PRI’s work from 1998 to 2010 in the Great Lakes region of Africa aimed to reduce the pre-trial prison population. The organisation monitored the process of Gacaca – the name given to the system […]

PRI roundtable on the death penalty in Belarus

On 26 January 2012, PRI hosted a national conference on “The development of the criminal justice system in Belarus”. The conference brought together 55 participants, including representatives of Parliament, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Academy of the Ministry of Interior, prison and police officials, judges, lawyers, representatives of the Institute of Training and Retraining of […]

PRI Launches a Ten-Point Plan for Fair and Effective Criminal Justice for Children

In December 2011, PRI launched its Ten-Point Plan for Fair and Effective Criminal Justice for Children. The Ten-Point Plan focuses on ways that law and policy makers and criminal justice practitioners can respond effectively and positively to children in contact and in conflict with the law. The Plan outlines PRI’s belief that a fair and […]