Gang rule or ‘extra-legal governance’ in US prisons is linked to ever larger facilities. One way to make prisons safer and reduce the influence of gangs is therefore to make prisons smaller.This blog is by David Skarbek, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at King's College London.This is part of PRI's expert guest blog series. Read a text version…

Worldwide more than a half a million foreign nationals are detained abroad. While entitled to assistance under international law, in practice only a few countries provide assistance to their nationals. One of these is The Netherlands. However, uniquely, as well as assistance provided by diplomatic staff, Dutch citizens detained abroad can also rece…

To fill the gap between international norms and the relative lack of information on how to build a compliant prison in difficult circumstances, UNOPS recently developed a Technical Guidance for Prison Planning document that facilitates a human rights-based approach in the development of prison infrastructure. This blog post by Gordon Nuttall and Pe…

In many countries, prison food is insufficient in quantity and quality. Budgets are low (less than 0.5 USD per prisoner per day according to data recently gathered by PRI) and there have been cases where prisoners have died from starvation. In higher-income countries, food is more available but still may not be ‘of nutritional value adequate for he…

Foreign national prisoners often suffer disproportionately in the criminal justice system. They may have to negotiate prison life whilst contending with a different culture, language and without the regular family contact or visitors other prisoners may enjoy. As the number of foreign nationals in prison is considerable in many countries, the issue…

Restoring the justice and prison systems back to working order is an essential and often urgent task for post-conflict states. In this expert blog for PRI, Terry Hackett, Warden of Pacific Institution in British Columbia (BC), Canada, draws on his recent research into civil society action in justice and correctional reform in Rwanda after the genoc…

The spread of infectious diseases is a serious problem in prison systems worldwide, with prisoners often many times more likely to be living with Tuberculosis, HIV or hepatitis than a person in the community. Alongside the generally poor and unsanitary conditions prevalent in prisons, one major route to infection is unsafe injecting drug use. Yet v…

‘Tough on crime’ policies are often justified on the basis that putting people in prison for longer is what victims want and deserve. In 2013, Californians for Safety and Justice, which campaigns for more effective public safety policy ? conducted a survey to find out whether this was what victims in California actually did want. The results turned…

On 22 May 2015, at the UN Crime Commission in Vienna, states agreed on a new set of prison standards – a new and updated version of the well-known and well-used Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR).Andrea Huber, PRI’s Policy Director, was involved in the revision process and was present in Vienna when the adoption of the reso…

In Latin America, around one third of all detainees are in jail for drug-related offences. The 'war on drugs' has had a damaging impact both on communities in the region and on the functioning of prison systems.In this last of our expert guest blogs for our anniversary year, Luciana Pol, Senior Fellow on Security and Human Rights at Center for Lega…

Sentencing trends ... prison technology - opportunities and threats ... architectural design and offender rehabilitation.A special podcast to accompany our new Global Prison Trends Report.Guests include: Alison Hannah (PRI Executive Director), Bryan Stevenson (Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and PRI Board Member), Dr Marayca López (US corr…

Dr Kimmett Edgar, Head of Research at Prison Reform Trust (UK) describes how consulting prisoners can lead to more efficient targeting of resources, reduced conflicts, and improved relations with prisoners. Thanks to Lucy Wills for use of her painting.This is the 11th blog in PRI's expert guest blog series celebrating our anniversary year. Visit ww…

In the ninth of our expert blog series, former UK prison governor and criminal justice expert, John Podmore, says that recognition that corruption is a widespread problem in prison systems – and subsequent action to tackle it – is long overdue.PenalReform

The number of older prisoners in prison populations is growing in many countries, in part due to ageing populations and often in part to punitive sentencing policies. However, older prisoners are more likely than their peers in the community to be disabled, to have multiple, costly chronic health conditions, and experience age-related cognitive imp…

Thirty years after the entry into force of the UN Convention against Torture, there is still a considerable implementation gap and torture continues to exist worldwide. One of the most significant developments over the last few years has been the establishment of National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) which have a mandate to carry out regular unanno…