Imprisonment and Human Rights

This module is designed to develop analytical legal skills and in particular the application of human rights principles to a specific area of study, namely, prison law and policy. It does so against a background of growing recognition of the human rights of prisoners in international and national law.

The module examines how prisoners’ rights impact on prison conditions and the relationship between prisoners and the prison authorities. It also considers how the imposition of prison sentences and the extent to which they are implemented are influenced by a wider recognition of the substantive and procedural rights affected by imprisonment.

Attention is paid to specific issues of prisoners’ rights including the right to marry, found a family and to vote. An attempt is made to determine how these questions are dealt with in practice in English prisons and if practicable a visit to an English prison is included in the programme.

Also considered are mechanisms for the inspection and supervision of prisons and the standards that emerge from the practice of international monitoring bodies such the European Commission for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the recently established Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture (SPT) established in terms of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.