Bilateral cooperation

The relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) highlight areas for improvement where member States need to act in order to conform to the Council of Europe’s standards in the field of prisons and as regards the actions of law enforcement officials. Based on the European Prison Rules, the Council of Europe Probation Rules and the European Rules on juvenile offenders, the programme carries out assistance activities. Emphasis is placed on human rights and management issues in prisons, and on combating ill-treatment and impunity as regards law enforcement structures. The Council of Europe is the pan-European platform for discussion of new challenges facing law enforcement and correctional services, which inform standard setting and exchange of good practices.

NEWS

Back Publication of the Council of Europe report on Prisons in Europe from 2005 to 2015

The Council of Europe today published two reports reflecting, firstly, the trends in European prisons from 2005 to 2015 and, secondly, the evolution of foreign offenders in prison and under probation from 2009 to 2015.

The report “Prisons in Europe 2005-2015” shows that from 2005 to 2015 the geographic distribution of prison population rates (number of inmates per 100,000 inhabitants) remained stable across Europe. In 2005, these rates tended to decrease from east to west with some exceptions: England and Wales, Scotland, Spain and Portugal had relatively high prison population rates, whilst Croatia, Greece, Slovenia and Turkey had low rates.

From 2005 to 2015 the countries where prison population rates increased the most were Albania (109.3 to 207.2), Georgia (200.6 to 274.6), Lithuania (233.4 to 277.7), “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (104.8 to 168.9), Montenegro (134.5 to 176.8) and Turkey (75.8 to 220.4). On the other hand, Germany (95.7 to 77.4) and the Netherlands (94 to 53) joined the countries with the lowest rates, and Estonia (327.4 to 210.3) and Latvia (313.4 to 223.4) significantly reduced theirs.

Read full press release: Ten-year trends in European prisons: new Council of Europe report

4 December 2018