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Key Text International Prison Policy Development Instrument

Author: B Tkachuk
Date: 2001
Size: 402 pages (1.4MB)

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Summary

Many prisons around the world are in a near state of crisis as prison populations are growing and prisons are becoming overcrowded. As a result of this, some prisons are unable to provide food, clean water, blankets, shelter and basic health care: in other words, they are unable to ensure that prisoners’ basic human rights are met.

This detailed and comprehensive prison policy instrument, developed by the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, is a compilation of standards and policies from national and international sources and covers everything from the transfer of keys to dealing with transsexual inmates. Policies are based on the rule of law and national and international human rights standards—mostly UN standards, such as The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Priorities were identified through consultations in a variety of countries and regions around the world, and the consultations discovered that developed countries—as well as developing countries—had areas of need that were not being addressed. These included staff development and training, management training, policy development, bail and pre-trial detention reform, conditions of youth detention, community corrections, the promotion of public awareness and participation, and the problem of overcrowding.

The International Prison Policy Development Instrument has been designed as a tool to assist countries in their development or to review their prison policies, regardless of region or culture. It was designed so that it could be modified or edited to allow for local legislation, culture and needs. The manual focuses on six key areas: administration, case management, inmate rights, security, health, and discipline. Proposed policy objectives are:

The guiding principle for the administration of correctional services is to carry out sentences imposed by courts in a safe and humane way, and provide programmes in prisons and the community so that offenders can be reintegrated into society
Case management involves the initiatives that are taken to ensure that the period of incarceration is most effectively used by an inmate and includes classification, programme delivery, counselling, integration and community re-entry
There is a range of inmate rights on arrest, including information on reasons for the arrest, retention and instruction of counsel, and determination of the validity of detention,a long with various rights to do with their term of imprisonment
The use of force (the application of physical restraint in order to control inmates) can be justified in controlled circumstances, but with a variety of restrictions
The guiding principle for health care is that the prison service should provide every inmate with essential health care and reasonable access to non- essential mental health care which will contribute to his or her rehabilitation
The purpose of discipline is to encourage inmates to conduct themselves in a manner that promotes good order in prison and through a process that will help inmates’ rehabilitation, but with no more restriction than is necessary.

The purpose of a criminal justice system is to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society, through the use of appropriate and reasonable sanctions: justice and human rights should be its core values. A sound policy framework must also be based on the rule of law and be respective of any international, regional and national standards for corrections and the protection of human rights. Broad recommendations for designing this framework are:

There should be a commitment to the belief that offenders are responsible for their own behaviour and have the potential to live as law- abiding citizens
The majority of offenders can be dealt with effectively in the community by means of non-custodial correctional programmes. Imprisonment should be used with restraint
In the interest of public protection, decisions about offenders must be based on informed risk assessment and risk management
The public has a right to know what is done in correction and should be able to participate in the system
Effective corrections depends on working in close cooperation with criminal justice partners and the community
Effective correction also depends on the degree to which correctional systems are capable of responding to change and shaping the future.

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Source: Tkachuk, B. 2001, 'International Prison Policy Development Instrument', International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy
Author: International Centre for Criminal Justice Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, Vancouver, http://www.icclr.law.ubc.ca/
Organisation: International Centre for Criminal Justice Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, Vancouver, http://www.icclr.law.ubc.ca/