Welcome to Penal Reform International's monthly e-newsletter, a round-up of PRI and other penal reform news from a variety of criminal justice and human rights resources around the world.
The views expressed in the news items below are not necessarily those of PRI.
Global Prison Trends 2017 identifies the topical developments and challenges in criminal justice and prison policy and practice over the past 12 months, highlighting also some significant reports and jurisprudence. It features a Special Focus section on the links between the Sustainable Development Goals and criminal justice.
It is the third edition in PRI’s annual series, and this year is published in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice.
Photo: Women’s prison in Karaganda region, Kazakhstan – Karla Nur, 2014
In this expert blog, Barbara Owen, an international expert in the area of women and imprisonment, examines practical solutions to improve women's safety in prisons. She argues that expanding the concept of security to include multiple forms of gendered safety, and implementing the protections outlined in the Bangkok Rules, can improve safety inside women's prisons and result in better outcomes at release.
Photo: Panelists at side-event at UN Crime Commission, 23 May 2017: Olivia Rope (PRI), Maria del Pilar Saborío de Rocafort, Ambassador of Costa Rica and Guro Imnadze (Human RIghts Education and Monitoring Centre, Georgia).
In this blog, Marie Nougier from the International Drug Policy Consortium discusses the recommendations made for drug policy reform at the 2017 UN Crime Commission (CCPCJ). She describes the outcome of a side eventorganised by the IDPC, PRI and the government of Costa Rica to link the UNGASS on drugs Outcome Document with the work of the Crime Commission.
Read the joint oral statement made by PRI and the IDPC to the Commission on specific criminal justice commitments in the Outcome Document of the UNGASS on drugs.
Drug policy
Recent law reform
Recent reforms to laws on drug policies show a positive trend towards moving away from punitive to more proportionate approaches. This is an issue discussed in Global Prison Trends 2017. Progressive moves were seen in:
Uruguay: In July, Uruguay will become the first country in the world where the sale of cannabis is legal across the entire territory. Legal marijuana will only be available at pharmacies. Consumers will have to register with the government first, and to identify themselves with a digital thumb scan to withdraw their weekly maximum of 10g.
France: According to a government spokesperson, France will introduce a law by the end of 2017 that will end prison terms for cannabis use, although consuming the drug will remain a criminal offence. At present, offenders can face up to a year in jail plus a fine of up to 3,750 euros ($4,200).
Australia: The Australian government has said that drug users who return a positive test as part of a welfare crackdown will not be reported to authorities or face potential criminal action, but will instead be offered a more 'compassionate' path.
Israel: Israel’s new cannabis decriminalisation policy has come into effect, shifting the responsibility of enforcing marijuana laws from police to civil authorities. Possessing more than 15 gramms of cannabis remains illegal.
USA: Vermont's legislature has approved recreational marijuana use, making Vermont the ninth state to legalise recreational marijuana use among adults and the first to legalise through a legislative process.
The Global Drug Survey 2017 (GDS2017) offers the first global estimate of how many people who use drugs were stopped by police in relation to their drug use or other drug-related behaviour in the last 12 months; the demographics of those stopped; the punitiveness of any drug-related police encounters; and any country differences.
The US-based Sentencing Projecthas published a new report on 'America’s Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences', which finds that one in seven prisoners in the US is serving a life or virtual life sentence. The number of people serving life sentences has more than quadrupled since 1984 and nearly half are African American and nearly 12,000 people have been sentenced to life or virtual life for crimes committed as juveniles.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Lithuanian system of presidential pardon, which allows the President to review life sentences, was in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (the prohibition against torture and inhuman and degrading treatment). The Court found that the system did not allow a life prisoner to know what must be done to be considered for release, since the decisions of the President did not require an explanation and were not open to judicial review. The Court also noted that the lack of sufficient work activities or education and the systematic segregation of life prisoners in Lukiškės Prison seriously weakened the possibility of the applicants reforming., reducing their likelihood of showing progress and therefore obtaining a reduction of their sentence. Read more: Matiošaitis and Others v. Lithuania
This paper is part of PRI/APT's Detention Monitoring Tool, developed to provide practical guidance to help monitoring bodies conduct effective visits to places of detention.
Canada’s prison agency is close to establishing new rules that would prohibit the placement of vulnerable people in solitary confinement and increase the time segregated inmates can spend out of cells. The draft rule would move away from the practice of solitary confinement as defined in the UN Nelson Mandela Rules (the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact).
Report from the US Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA) and the Arthur Liman Public Interest Programat Yale Law School, 'Aiming to Reduce Time-In-Cell', on how thousands of older imprisoned people in the US are being forced to live in some form of solitary confinement.
A government report has revealed that organised crime groups in Mexico control 65 per cent of state prisons. The situation of violence within prisons is further aggravated by a lack of security and custody personnel. According to the study, half of Mexico's detention centres were overcrowded in 2016, partly as a result of pre-trial detention, with 40 per cent of the country's 236,886 prisoners being held without a conviction.
European Court of Human Rights: conditions of detention and treatment of prisoners
Last month, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on two cases relating to conditions of detention. In Simeonovi v. Bulgaria, the Grand Chamber found that the applicant's conditions of detention in Bulgaria, combined with the strict regime under which he was serving his sentence and the length of his imprisonment, amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. In a case brought against Turkey, Sarıgül v. Turkey, the Court found that the seizure by prison authorities of a prisoner’s draft novel had no legal basis and breached his right to freedom of expression, as protected by Article 10 of the Convention.
In it's recent session, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights decided to support the proposal of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa to develop Principles on the Declassification and Decriminalization of Petty Offences in Africa. The Draft Principles are based on a series of consultations held in December 2016 and February 2017.
The Victorian Supreme Court in Australia has ruled that keeping children in Victoria's maximum security adult Barwon Prison was unlawful and prohibited their continued detention there. The Supreme Court also found that limitations placed on the human rights of child inmates were not justified. The Human Rights Law Centre launched the legal challenge after the Victorian government reclassified an area of Barwon prison as a youth facility.
In its annual State of Care report, State of Care: A focus on Oranga Tamariki's secure residences, New Zealand's Office of the Children's Commissioner concluded that youth justice residences are more like youth prisons, with endemic bullying and a determination by their occupants not to report instances of serious abuse and violence. The care and protection residences are also secure, with children and young people being detained there without choice.
PRI workshop in Algeria: 'Protecting the rights of accused persons'
At the end of May, PRI and the National Council for Human Rights in Algeria held a workshop on the rights of accused persons with 35 officers. The workshop covered both the Algerian and the international human rights framework for the protection of the rights of accused persons, and discussed other topics related to the treatment of children and women who come in contact with the criminal justice system in Algeria. Read more about the work of PRI's Middle East and North Africa Office.
Malawi is set to become the first country in the world to use the Open Trialsmartphone and tablet application to enable its citizens to access the justice system. The app has three functions: 1) to inform people of their basic rights with regards to fair trials and detentions, 2) a checklist that people can use to determine whether their friends, family members or detainees have been detained legally and that the trial was constitutional, and 3) a reporting function.
The joint briefing published by PRI and the Kenya Probation and Aftercare Service 'Community service and probation for women: Lessons and recommendations based on a study in Kenya' is now available in Swahili. The briefing draws on a project in from Kenya and other studies for countries who are looking to design and implement community sanctions for women, in line with the UN Bangkok Rules.
A new volume edited by Piet Hein van Kempenand Maartje Krabbefocuses on women in prison in general, and on the UN Bangkok Rules in particular. The volume includes seven thematic chapters and 23 chapters dedicated to individual countries. An extensive collection of expert knowledge, this volume intends to highlight both good practice in the context of women in prison and the many challenges that lie ahead.
In the UK, it can be a condition of release from prison for certain medium or high-risk prisoners that they must live at ‘Approved Premises’ (‘APs’). Although there are 94 APs for men across England and Wales, there are only 6 APs for women, with none located in London or Wales. As a result, women are much more likely than men to be placed in an AP far from their families and communities. The Court ruled unanimously that the provision of APs in this way constitutes direct discrimination against women. Other news and resources
'Stop and Search' discusses the law and societal issues around the 'war on drugs' through a mix of live panel discussions, celebrity guests, policy experts, news content and podcast documentaries. The podcast is run in association with LEAP UK and is part of Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces Network.
