NCJ Number
184730
Journal
Punishment and Society Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2000 Pages: 309-324
Date Published
July 2000
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of applying a general human rights treaty to the prison setting and examines the decisions of the European Commission and Court of Human Rights regarding prison conditions, inmate communications with the outside world, inmate discipline, and release.
Abstract
Inmates in Europe have often resorted to the Commission and Court over the past 30 years. Many applications have been unsuccessful. However, some of the Court’s decisions have had a significant impact on prison law and policy, especially in the United Kingdom. Strasbourg decisions have resulted in significant changes in release procedures for inmates with indeterminate sentences, communication rules, and formal disciplinary proceedings in that country. Prison reformers had long urged some of these changes, but these changes probably would not have taken place without the impetus given by the binding nature of the Court’s decisions. However, judicial involvement in specific issues has been uneven. Thus, the Commission and Court have been reluctant to intervene in relation to prison conditions or matters of internal administration. Overall, the decisions reveal an aversion to authoritarian approaches to prison management and a strong support for judicial supervision of what happens in prisons. Nevertheless, the application of a human rights approach still seems to leave substantial discretion to prison officials regarding the underlying philosophy of punishment. Notes, list of cases cited, and 20 references (Author abstract modified)