Analysis Opinion

Europe: towards a binding legal framework for places of detention

Saskia Bricmont, a native of Ath in Belgium, has been a member of the Greens and the European Free Alliance (EFA) at the European Parliament since May 2019. She advocates for an open, altruistic and tolerant society and supports those who fight for democracy, human rights and social justice. Here, Saskia discusses a possible binding European framework for minimum standards on places of detention.

ICPR and Prison Insider asked several experts worldwide to share their insights in the framework of the project Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in 10 countries. Read Saskia Bricmont’s insights.

To question imprisonment and detention facilities is, inevitably, to question the role of the criminal justice system in our societies.

Advancing judicial cooperation is thus closely tied to improving conditions of detention within the European Union.

The rights of incarcerated people and the conditions of their detention are fundamental issues.

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Saskia Bricmont

Member for Greens/EFA

Saskia Bricmont, a native of Ath in Belgium, has been a member of the Greens and the European Free Alliance (EFA) at the European Parliament since May 2019. She advocates for an open, altruistic and tolerant society and supports those who fight for democracy, human rights and social justice. For Bricmont, the respect for fundamental rights, the increasing inequalities, the overhaul of our social model, and the rights of LGBTQI+ people are key issues that need to be addressed at the European level.

About the project

Understanding and reducing the use of imprisonment in ten countries

This comparative research and policy project is led by the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research (ICPR), based at Birkbeck, University of London. To understand the causes and consequences of over-incarceration worldwide, ICPR has worked with a large network of NGOs, academic researchers and practitioners spanning this diverse selection of countries. ICPR partnered with Prison Insider in the latter stages of the project to shed light on aspects of prisoners’ lived experience in custody before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project team collaborated to gather national experts’ insights, and to facilitate a continuing global conversation around the key research findings.
The project focuses on five main themes that can be found in the drop-down menu.
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