On 6 June 2025, the Human Rights Directorate of the Council of Europe organised, with the support of the joint European Union-Council of Europe project "Support to Council of Europe for EU network of prison monitoring bodies" (European NPM Forum), a roundtable discussion on one of the prison system’s most hidden and harmful dynamics: informal hierarchies among inmates. The event brought together over 80 representatives from prison services and ministries of justice, National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs), Council of Europe senior staff and international experts to address this deeply entrenched phenomenon.
These unofficial power structures, long flagged by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) – and most recently reiterated in its 34th general report – are often linked to violence, discrimination, and serious violations of human dignity. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that placement in the lowest tier of such hierarchies may amount to inhuman or degrading treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, even in the absence of physical violence.
Discussions addressed both the root causes and impact of informal prisoner hierarchies, with experts from across Europe highlighting contributing factors such as prison culture, design, oversight gaps, and inmate dynamics. Participants shared practical solutions, including early detection, staff training, and improved classification, while emphasising the crucial role of NPMs and Ombudspersons in identifying these hidden systems.
The roundtable concluded with a call to prioritise the eradication of informal prisoner hierarchies, recognising that dismantling them is not only a human rights imperative but also an essential step to creating safer, fairer, more rehabilitative detention environments across Europe.
