Principles of European Prison Law and Policy

Dirk van Zyl Smit is Professor of Comparative and International Penal Law at the University of Nottingham. He has advised the governments of South Africa, Malawi and Bosnia and Herzegovina on new prison legislation. He acted as expert adviser to the Council of Europe on the new European Prison Rules and the forthcoming Rules on Juvenile Offenders subject to Sanctions and Measures, and to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime for its Handbook on Alternatives to Imprisonment.Sonja Snacken is Professor of Criminology, Penology and Sociology of Law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Professor at the Universiteit Gent. She is President of the Council for Penological Cooperation of the Council of Europe and acts as an expert for the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. She was awarded the Francqui Chair at the Université Catholique de Louvain for the academic year 2008-2009.

• Contents ; Table of Contents ; Preface ; 1. The History of European Prison Law and Policy ; 2. Context and Theory ; 3. Basic Principles ; 4. Conditions of Imprisonment ; 5. The Prison Regime ; 6. Contact with the Outside World ; 7. Good Order ; 8. Release ; 9. The Future of European Prison Law and Policy ; Bibliography ; Official Documents ; Table of Cases ; Table of International Conventions, Treaties, Instruments and Standards ; Table of National Legislation ; Index

This is an impressive, meticulously-researched and thorough text. Alongside providing a comprehensive guide to relevant statutes and case law... the book is embedded in the penological research literature and thus avoids being a narrowly-legalistic guide to the law and, instead, engages the reader in both understanding the relevant law and also its socio-legal and penological context. The book manages to combine highly-detailed scholarship with clarity of written expression and a thoughtful and critical approach. The breadth of scholarship, depth of analysis and thoughtful critique of the current law make this book an outstanding addition to the existing published literature. Overall, this is a highly significant text which addresses a complex topic and which should be essential reading for anyone interested in human rights, law, prisons and prisoners' families.