The persistence of prison overcrowding in many member states of the Council of Europe is a major structural challenge, compromising respect for human rights and putting in danger the functioning of prison systems and their rehabilitation objectives. Despite the existing standards and efforts made at national and European levels, overcrowding rates remain high, revealing profound problems linked to criminal justice policies, the excessive use of pre-trial detention and the underutilisation of alternatives to detention.

This conference, organised by the Departments of “deprivation of liberty” and of execution of judgments of the European Court of Human rights (ECHR), aims to provide a platform for dialogue between public authorities responsible for tackling prison overcrowding (such as criminal justice administrations, prosecutors, judges, prison and probation services) and relevant experts. The objective is to discuss the challenges and structural causes of overcrowding, share best practices and identify concrete solutions in line with Council of Europe standards, in particular the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court).

 European challenges regarding overcrowding 

 Examples of prison deflation  

 Parallel session 1: pre-trial detention: too frequent? too long? Which alternatives? 

 Parallel Session 2: the determination of sentences and their length and alternatives to imprisonment: which challenge(s)? which effective solution(s)?  

 Parallel session 3: Enforcement of sentences and releases from prison: which challenge(s)? which lasting solution(s)?  

 Conclusion: Solutions do exist: how to implement them?