Developing international prison standards

Dirk van Zyl Smit

Chapter 26 in Research Handbook on Penal Policy, 2026, pp 491-509 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In Chapter 26 the author reflects on his extensive involvement in the development of international prison standards from 1993 onwards. In Africa, this included being involved in the drafting of the 1996 Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa. Subsequently, he was an expert adviser to the Council of Europe on a wide range of standards, from the 2006 European Prison Rules to the 2025 recommendation addressing the mental health of prisoners and probationers. His work with the Council of Europe also included an ultimately unsuccessful effort to establish a European Prison Charter. From 2011 onwards, he observed the revision of the 1955 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. In the conclusion, he reflects comparatively on elements of these processes that worked well, offering suggestions for improvements. Finally, he argues that prison standards need not be embodied in binding treaties for them to be effective.

Keywords: Standard setting; Kampala Declaration on prison conditions in Africa; European prison rules; Nelson Mandela rules (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035308521
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