KEY RECOMMENDATIONS Key recommendations 01 05 09 02 06 10 Prison overcrowding needs to be addressed as a key factor affecting the physical and mental health of prisoners and staff. States should put measures in place to strengthen crime prevention, decriminalise petty offences, review the proportionality of sentencing and increase the use of alternatives to imprisonment. Civil society organisations working in prisons and advocating for criminal justice and prison reform need to operate in a secure space, free from attacks and without the imposition of unnecessary or arbitrary restrictions. States should ensure a safe and enabling environment for civil society that is supported by a robust national legal framework and which is grounded in international human rights law. Countries that still retain the death penalty should move progressively towards its abolition. Countries that implement the death penalty should uphold the highest fair trial standards and make efforts to improve the conditions of prisoners on death row. 07 Policymakers, practitioners and other professionals involved in criminal justice should promote and use restorative justice processes in a way that is safe, effective and evidence-based. The number of offences that attract life sentences or de facto life sentences should be reduced, in line with the principle of proportionality. States should take measures to abolish life sentences without parole, which can never meet fundamental human rights standards. All forms of life imprisonment should be prohibited as a penalty for offences committed under the age of 18. 04 08 03 Pre-trial detention should be used as a last resort and only where necessary and proportionate. Legal aid and assistance should be provided and, where monetary bail is used, this should be set according to the circumstances of the individual defendant. The use of non-custodial measures should be increased and states should develop effective systems to help ensure that detainees spend no longer in pre-trial detention than is strictly required by law. 42 | States should review the proportionality of sentencing policy and practice. Mandatory minimum sentences should be discontinued – particularly for non-violent crimes – and the use of alternatives to imprisonment should be promoted and strengthened. Drug policies should be evidence-based and include the decriminalisation of minor offences, proportionality of sentencing, and non-custodial alternatives to imprisonment. Measurements of the outcomes of drug policies should include their impact on human rights, health, peace, and security and development. When women are sentenced, the court should take the context of the criminal conduct into account, as well as any experience of victimisation or any caretaking responsibilities. States should ensure that prison policy and practice comply consistently with the Bangkok Rules. States should closely monitor the representation of foreign nationals and people from ethnic and racial minority or Indigenous backgrounds in criminal justice systems. They should review sentencing policies or practices to determine if they are discriminatory, and develop specific measures to meet the rehabilitation and reintegration needs of these prisoners. 11 There are clear and explicit international standards on justice for children which should apply in all contexts, including for children (allegedly) involved in terrorist or violent extremist offences. Children should be detained only as a measure of last resort, and there is growing evidence of the effectiveness of diverting children away from formal judicial proceedings – which should be done as much as possible. 12 States need to collect data and information regarding the needs of older prisoners and explicitly address these in strategy and policy documents, with a focus on safety, healthcare needs and rehabilitation. Early release mechanisms should be adopted and used for older prisoners. Penal Reform International and Thailand Institute of Justice | Global Prison Trends 2019