Objective:

Penal Reform International seeks to achieve penal reform, recognising diverse cultural contexts, by promoting; the development and implementation of international human rights instruments with regard to law enforcement, prison conditions and standards; the elimination of unfair and unethical discrimination in all penal measures; the abolition of the death penalty; the reduction of the use of imprisonment throughout the world; the use of constructive non-custodial sanctions which encourage social re-integration while taking into account the interest of victims.

Type:

NGO, Training Institute

Coverage:

Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Georgia, Grenada, India, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tagikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Focus:

SSAJ: Penal system

Organisation summary:

Penal Reform International (PRI) is an international NGO active in 80 countries worldwide, promoting penal reform. PRI is concerned with all criminal justice and penal processes and the way people are treated within them; the socio-economic causes of crime and delinquency; the involvement of volunteers and a greater community involvement in the criminal justice process, and offers encouragement, technical advice and help with making applications for finance for particular projects. It does not normally take up the treatment of individuals.

PRI has no relationship with any government with respect to its management or the orientation of its activities. It seeks and accepts funds from governments to undertake work in accordance with its agreed programme. It aims to work closely with governments, where possible, to achieve its goals but without in any way compromising its independence.

PRI’s main activities include organising conferences on penal reform, providing training for NGOs, supporting community service programmes in Africa, the Caribbean and Central and Eastern Europe, and developing new models of criminal justice.

PRI’s work is related to the governance agenda in a number of ways:

• Work on new models of accessible justice and penal reform in developing countries has been carried out in South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and includes work on interagency cooperation.
• Work on traditional justice systems has comprised a research project on Rwanda’s Gacaca courts.
• Work on alternatives to imprisonment has focussed particularly on the post-Soviet states of Kazakstan and Russia.

Other areas of expertise of PRI include:

• Community service in Africa
• Opposing the death penalty
• Prisoners' rights and international standards
• Juveniles and vulnerable prisoners
• Pan-African Conference on Penal and Prison Reform in Africa.

Information resources:

Manuals and policy documents: - www.penalreform.org/English/frset_art_en.htm

Articles: - www.penalreform.org/English/frset_art_en.htm

Organisation contact details:

Penal Reform International
Unit 450
The Bon Marche Centre
241 - 251 Ferndale Road
Brixton
London SW9 8BJ
United Kingdom.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7924 95 75
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7924 96 97
Email: Headofsecretariat@pri.org.uk
Web: http://www.penalreform.org

GRC Exchange resources by this organisation:

A Model for Good Prison Farm Management in Africa (2002)

Access to Justice in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Traditional and Informal Justice Systems (2001)

Alternatives to Imprisonment in Kazakhstan (1999)

Community Service in Practice (1997)

Good Practices in Reducing Pre-Trial Detention (2003)

Health in Prisons (2002)

Making Standards Work: An International Handbook on Good Prison Practice (2001)

Penal Reform International Research on Gacaca Report (2003)

The Chain Linked: A Model for Inter-Agency Cooperation (1999)

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