International News
HM Inspectorate of Prisons: Minority ethnic prisoners’ experiences of rehabilitation and release planning
5th November 2020
The report found, among other issues, that ethnic identity’s influence on rehabilitation is underestimated – one-third of interviewed BME prisoners reported their ethnicity had directly influenced their experience of rehabilitation and release planning.
UK: Avoidable natural deaths in prison custody
5th October 2020
This new report aims to identify how natural deaths in prison might be prevented, where possible, and end of life care managed with dignity and compassion. This report is especially relevant as prisons face new challenges regarding healthcare amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Children Held on Remand in Victoria: A Report on Sentencing Outcomes
2nd October 2020
This report by the Sentencing Advisory Council (Australia) considers the relationship between remand and sentencing, and identifies the proportion of remanded children who did not go on to receive a custodial sentence for their offending.
Joint Committee on Human Rights: Government’s response to COVID-19
21st September 2020
Joint Committee on Human Rights today published the report of their enquiry into the human rights implications of the UK Government’s response to COVID-19.
Prison Reform Trust and Unlock: ‘Thinking Differently: Employer’s views on hiring people convicted of sexual offences’
14th September 2020
UK charities Unlock and The Prison Reform Trust have published ‘Thinking Differently: Employer’s views on hiring people convicted of sexual offences’, a report based on two surveys regarding the employment of those previously convicted of sexual offences.
PRI: Preventing harm and human rights violations in criminal justice systems
14th July 2020
Penal Reform International’s (PRI) new briefing considers how criminal justice systems around the world are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it is impacting on people serving custodial and community sanctions. While measures can be introduced now to mitigate infection, the briefing points to the systemic and long-term reforms needed to prevent harm and rights violations in future.
CPT: COVID-19 follow-up statement
9th July 2020
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) issued a follow-up statement to its 'Statement of principles' from March, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CPT says that further steps are needed to reduce the numbers of people in detention.
UK: Human Rights Committee publishes report on the response to children whose mothers are in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic
3rd July 2020
The Committee finds that the right to family life of children whose mothers are in prison in England and Wales risks being breached, and proposes that the Government ends the blanket ban on children visiting prisons.
CoE: Revised European Prison Rules
1st July 2020
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) has adopted a Recommendation which updates the 2006 European Prison Rules. Among other amendments, the revised rules establish that states should set in their national legislation the maximum period for which solitary confinement may be imposed.
Special SPACE I Report: Prisons and Prisoners in Europe in Pandemic Times
18th June 2020
The Council of Europe and the University of Lausanne launched this special SPACE I COVID-19 project in order to measure and better understand the impacts of the pandemic on the prison population in member states.
