It is of utmost importance that prison reform is not regarded in isolation from broader criminal justice reform. UNODC believes that effective prison and penal reform is dependent on the improvement and rationalisation of criminal justice policies, including crime prevention and sentencing policies, and on the treatment and care available to vulnerable groups in the community.
Prison reform efforts should therefore always take into account the needs relating to the reform of the criminal justice system as a whole and employ an integrated, multi-disciplinary strategy to achieve sustainable impact. Thus, reform initiatives will usually also need to encompass criminal justice policies and legislation at large as well as institutions other than the prison service, such as the police, prosecution and the judiciary.
An integrated approach also takes account of areas that are typically not regarded as part of the criminal justice system. These include, for example, the treatment of drug use disorder in the community or psycho-social counselling programmes, to which certain offenders may be diverted rather than being imprisoned, thereby ensuring that services in prison are not overstretched.
Prison overcrowding affects constitutes an acute global human rights, health and security crisis. It affects a solid majority of prison systems worldwide and stands out as the greatest contributor to violations of international minimum prison standards.. Yet punitive criminal policies, as well as a shortage of social protection services in the community, continue to contribute to a continuous growth of the prison population in many countries..
While overcrowding can be temporarily decreased by building new prisons, practice shows that trying to overcome the harmful effects of prison overcrowding through the construction of new prisons does not provide a sustainable solution. In addition, building new prisons and maintaining them is expensive, putting pressure on valuable and limited resources. Instead, numerous international instruments recommend a rationalization in sentencing policy, including the wider use of non-custodial measures.
The use of alternatives to imprisonment also reflects a fundamental change in the approach to offenders and their place in society, changing the focus of penitentiary measures from punishment and isolation, to prevention, restorative justice and social reintegration. When accompanied by adequate support for offenders, it assists some of the most vulnerable members of society to lead life without having to relapse back into criminal behaviour patterns.
In many cases, the implementation of penal sanctions and other measures within the community, rather than through a process of isolation from it, are more effective in preventing in reoffending ad therefore also offer a better protection of society from crime. Supporting the introduction and implementation of non-custodial sanctions and measures is therefore a key element of UNODC's work in the area of prison and penal reform.
Pre-trial detention is overused in many countries worldwide and has been identified as a main contributor to prison overcrowding. In more than 40 countries, the number of pre-trial detainees outnumber the number of convicted prisoners. This situation contradicts provisions in international standards, including the Tokyo Rules, which provide that pre-trial detention should only be used as a means of last resort in criminal proceedings, and only when certain conditions are met.
Although pre-trial detainees should be presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law, and treated as such, conditions in pre-trial detention are often worse than those for convicted prisoners. Recognizing the particular vulnerability of pre-trial detainees, international minimum prison standards therefore provide for specific safeguards to ensure that the rights of detainees are not abused, that they are not ill-treated and their access to justice not hindered.
The lack of resources for prison systems, however, means that people in pre-trial detention often do not have access to legal advice and assistance, with the result being that they may overstay on remand and do not receive a fair trial, further adding to the congestion of prisons.
UNODC works to improve access to justice, supporting legal and paralegal aid programs, and improving information management and cooperation between courts and prisons to speed up the processing of cases. We also assist with the development of safeguards for pre-trial detainees and sentenced prisoners, such as internal and external, independent monitoring and inspection mechanisms.
In order for a prison system to ensure safe, secure and humane custody and to be managed in a fair and human rights-compliant manner, national legislation, policies and practices must be guided by international minimum prison standards and related safeguards. Prison authorities have a responsibility to ensure that the supervision and treatment of prisoners is in line with the rule of law and that the period of imprisonment is used to prepare individuals for their social reintegration upon release.
In reality, however, prisons tend to be under-resourced and often struggle to ensure decent prison conditions or to provide for even the most basic and life sustaining needs of prisoners. National prison laws and regulations are often outdated and in need of reform.
In many countries, the prison administration is under the authority of police or military institutions and managers and staff have received no tailored training as regards the distinct and demanding role of prison officers. Prison officers are typically held in lower regard than other public officials working in the criminal justice system. They tend to have lower salaries and fewer career opportunities. This not only leads to difficulties in recruiting qualified staff, but also has negative consequences on their morale and performance.
Information collection and management systems are also inadequate in many prison systems worldwide, hindering the development of sound policies and strategies based on reliable, factual data.
Safety and security are core elements of a prison system that require the significant attention of prison managers. In this regard, related prison management practices, such as the classification of prisoners according to individually assessed risks and needs, corresponding sentence plans and the prisoners’ subsequent allocation to a suitable prison regime, are indispensable prerequisites. But very often, the extent to which tailored management approaches are implemented for prisoners with specific needs on the one hand, and those that may pose particular risks on the other, are lacking.
All of the above deficiencies increase the risk of torture, ill-treatment and other human rights violations in prisons. Widespread corruption and security breaches, including continued criminal activity while imprisoned, can also have a destabilizing effect well beyond prison walls.
Guided by international minimum prison standards, UNODC assists countries in revising national prison legislation, in developing tailored training programs for prison officials, in improving prison conditions, in ensuring prison and safety and security, and in strengthening the institutional capacity of prison administrations to apply core prison management practices. Gender-responsive approaches are mainstreamed throughout UNODC’s technical assistance in this regard.
One of the principle objectives of UNODC in the area of prison and penal reform is to contribute to the successful social reintegration of prisoners into society upon their release. Rehabilitation and social reintegration support should start as early as possible within the criminal justice process in order to have maximum effect. Diversion from the criminal justice process to appropriate treatment programs, for example, or other non-custodial measures are key in this regard.
Incarceration, by itself, does not have a reformative effect. On the contrary, it exacerbates many of the challenges faced by individuals who have come into conflict with the law.If a person is sentenced to imprisonment, purposeful and constructive activities while incarcerated are therefore vital to prepare a prisoner for re-entry to society, including education, vocational training, work and more specialized programmes that address root causes of offending Following release, interventions to support former prisoners and continuing care in the community can build on this.
The rehabilitation and social reintegration of prisoners is a societal task that cannot be fulfilled by prison services alone. More than any other aspect of prison management, this is an area for which the support of relevant government entities – complemented by the active involvement of civil society – is critical. Such cross-institutional cooperation ensures that services are provided in accordance with the standards applicable for similar services in the community, and are continued in the community upon release, as required.
UNODC offers key advice and support in this area, ranging from the the development prison-based rehabilitation programs and related material or infrastructure support to the planning and implementation of continuum of care and post-release support in the community.
Prisoners are entitled to receive the same quality of medical care that is available in the community. However, this right is rarely realised in prisons, where healthcare services are usually inadequate. Prison health services are typically severely underfunded and understaffed, and often work in complete isolation from national health authorities, including national HIV and national tuberculosis (TB) programmes. In many cases, the gender-specific health needs of women are inadequately addressed.
The right to health not only includes access to gender-responsive preventive, curative, reproductive and palliative health care, but also access to the underlying determinants of health, such as safe drinking water and adequate sanitation; safe food; adequate nutrition and housing; safe health and dental services; healthy working and environmental conditions; as well as health-related education and information.
Technical assistance provided by UNODC in this area is based on the premise that prison and penal reform and health in prisons are interrelated, and that an integrated strategy needs to be adopted to address the high prevalence of communicable and non-communicable diseases in prison settings, in close cooperation or integrated into the public health system.
