A critical assessment of human rights in English and Dutch prisons

At international (United Nations) and regional (Council of Europe) level, post-war initiatives have seen the gradual emergence of a multitude of human rights instruments with direct and indirect applicability to prison conditions and prisoner treatment. In particular, the Council of Europe, via its Convention on and Court of Human Rights, has succeeded at ushering in the prisoner as a legitimate rights holder as any other human agent. Nearly a decade into the new millennium and past 50 years since the inception of the European Convention, the present study attempts to explore the dynamics of human rights in prisons against the latter` s unwavering popularity. Having only prisoners on board, it sets off to document their awareness, understanding and conceptualisations of the idea and application of human rights to the carceral context. The objective is to unravel the potentiality (-ies) of human rights in prisons, if any, and its implications for imprisonment as a state punishment. To this end, we are taken to two Western European countries-England & Wales and the Netherlands. There, 9 prisons and a probation office are visited where 63 adult men and women assess the state and viability of human rights in jail through interviews and questionnaires. Their differences in terms of the context of their imprisonment aspire to discern elements, which are conducive to making prison work-if possible.

In partial fulfilment of the regulations of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.