ALTERNATIVES TO IMPRISONMENT have failed, owing to the rushed implementation of an ill-conceived commercialisation. The consequences of this have been damaging: since 2015, there has been underinvestment in probation services; the promised ‘innovation’ in practice has not materialised; and the whole process has achieved poor value for money for the taxpayer.419 The use of global positioning system (GPS) monitors – often known as electronic tags – to enhance offender monitoring and reduce both pre- and post-trial imprisonment continues to be widely used. In the US alone, its usage increased by 140 per cent between 2005 and 2015.420 The Czech government introduced the use of ankle bracelets in September 2018 for prisoners under house arrest, and it is expected that they will be used by 2,500 prisoners in coming years.421 The use of GPS monitors raises human rights concerns in respect of freedom of movement and the right to privacy. In addition, the apparent attractions of electronic monitoring sometimes lead jurisdictions to consider introducing them when community-based services are still relatively underdeveloped and staff are inexperienced. Difficulties in implementation and issues such as inter-agency protocols not being fully considered or piloted creates risks. Other uses of digital technology as alternatives to imprisonment continue to grow, such as monitoring the consumption of alcohol and mobile telephone applications, which have the potential to support an individual’s own efforts to rehabilitate. A challenge faced by many individual probation services, and perhaps ‘alternatives’ in general, is to keep pace with technological development, ensuring that opportunities are taken while risks of early adoption are contained. The recent Beyond Prisons initiative of the International Correctional and Prisons Association aims to create a concept of community-based justice for women. This project will include a literature review, collation of innovative and promising practices from around the world, model development, and dissemination. The project will initially focus on women, and will later look at men’s needs as well – reversing the more common approach of initial design with male service-users in mind. There have been calls for the Tokyo Rules – now nearly 30 years old – to be updated, to emphasise the importance of community sentences and to include, for instance, reference to electronic monitoring and the needs of offenders with special vulnerabilities.422 Updating and Penal Reform International and Thailand Institute of Justice | Global Prison Trends 2019 promoting the Tokyo Rules could help to give alternatives the early stage impetus to implementation that they require in many jurisdictions, and provide a structure to measure implementation in others (this measurement could offer some much-needed insight into the global picture of alternatives delivery). The Rules could also support capacity building, by providing guidance and a common language for strategy and steps. RECOMMENDATION 21 The use of non-custodial sanctions, especially for minor and non-violent offences, should be expanded to allow offenders to keep their jobs, support their families, compensate victims and provide accountability to society. Non-custodial sanctions should address the root causes of offending, be gender sensitive, and replace prison rather than widening the net of criminal justice control. | 41