International Standards

Second World Congress on Community Corrections

International Community corrections association

Presented provisional results of PRI's alternatives to imprisonment project focusing on improving access to community service across East Africa, to an international audience, followed by questions and discussion.

The meeting was chaired by the Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa, Commissioner Med S.K. Kaggwa. The day-long event explored the changes to the Rules, in particular how they can be put into practice and some of the challenges in the Ugandan and wider African contexts.

expert group meeting to discuss the implementation of the newly adopted Nelson Mandela Rules

On 7-8 April 2016, PRI and the University of Essex Human Rights Centre hosted a meeting of criminal justice experts to review the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted as the Nelson Mandela Rules in December 2015.

Legal, policy and operational issues were identified that may arise for prison administrations in interpreting and applying the revised Rules.

Discussion focused on the areas of the Rules that have been subject to the most substantive change:

• respect for dignity
• restrictions, discipline and sanctions
• incident management (complaints, death and injury in custody)
• prison management
• healthcare
• contact with the outside world.

6th United Nations International Corrections in Peacekeeping Conference

The two-and a-half day event was held on the theme “Strengthening Public Safety, Peace and Security in Post-Conflict Settings” and is expected to brought together about 120 corrections experts comprising practitioners and partners from the United Nations system, other international organisations, heads and representatives of national prisons services, including from post-conflict countries.

21st Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services

The theme of the Conference was Community Involvement in Prison and Probation Work. Discussions included:

• The role and place of families of offenders and the attention and care needed by their children
• Examples of co-operation between prison and probation services and the community as a way towards better social reintegration of prisoners and probationers
• Prison overcrowding
• Ways of dealing with radicalisation of prisoners. 

The event also included working group discussions on amending the Draft Recommendation on the European Rules on community sanctions and measures and a visit to the new judicial complex Zaanstad was also organised by the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency.