On 13 October, a European conference on prison overcrowding was held in Strasbourg, at the Palais de l’Europe. It was organised by the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the Department of Deprivation of Liberty, under the Monaco Presidency of the Committee of Ministers. It brought together representatives of criminal justice administrations, prosecutors, judges, and prison and probation services from some 25 Council of Europe member states, as well as academics and Council of Europe experts working on criminal law and prison matters.
The conference took place in a context where prison overcrowding remains a major structural problem: thirteen states have judgments on this subject under enhanced supervision by the Committee of Ministers and four others under standard supervision. The findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) show that other states also face overcrowding.
The morning plenary session was devoted to European challenges, with contributions from Clare Ovey, Director of Human Rights (DGI), and Pau Pérez-Sales, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, followed by examples of prison deflation in three states. In the afternoon, three parallel sessions addressed pre-trial detention, the determination of sentences and alternatives to imprisonment, as well as the enforcement of sentences and releases from prison, with case studies from ten member states.
The outcomes of the three parallel sessions were presented at the closing session, followed by closing remarks by CPT, and Samuel Vuelta Simon, Secretary of State for Justice of Monaco.
Thematic factsheet on conditions of detention in prisons and police premises
Conference page (all contributions and closing remarks will be made public at a later stage)
