ICPR publishes French translation of the 3rd Edition of A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management: Handbook for Prison Staff

ICPR has today published the French translation of the 3rd Edition of A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management: Handbook for Prison Staff (Gérer les prisons dans le respect des droits de l’homme), co-authored by Professor Andrew Coyle, Emeritus Professor of Prison Studies at the University of London, and Helen Fair, Research Fellow at the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR) at Birkbeck.

This translation edition is published by ICPR in conjunction with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). We are very grateful to ICRC for providing the translation of the Handbook.

The Handbook is based on the internationally agreed standards for the use of imprisonment and conditions of detention and it provides guidance for prison staff as to their implementation. It demonstrates that as well as providing an appropriate framework for the management of prisons, the international standards can be very effective in operational terms. It provides a basis for good prison management which can be applied in every prison system in the world.

The 3rd edition has been updated to take account of a number of new international and regional standards, including the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) as well as developing case law concerning the use of imprisonment.

Professor Andrew Coyle, co-author of the Handbook, commented:

Since the first edition of the Handbook was published in 2002 it has been translated into 19 languages and has become a standard reference text in many countries. The approval of the updated Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) by the United Nations in December 2015 provided us with an opportunity to prepare a further edition of the Handbook which took account of these Rules as well as others which have been published in recent years. This third edition was written in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the English edition was launched in Geneva in June 2018. The ICRC has now generously collaborated with ICPR in translating this edition into French.

The international work of ICPR, particularly through its World Prison Brief, demonstrates that the use of imprisonment continues to increase in many countries and, sadly, that the abusive treatment of prisoners is common in many jurisdictions. This means that the human rights message contained in this handbook continues to be relevant for governments, for prison administrations, for those who work in prisons in whatever capacity and also for the wider safety of society in general.

The French translation can be downloaded here