Release from Prison European Policy and Practice

Release from prison is matter of increasing interest throughout Europe. This book focuses on Council of Europe Recommendations and on European Union measures. It explains how release policy is related to wider questions about justice and fairness in prison-related decision-making and the changing place of imprisonment in European society. Release from prison is matter of increasing interest throughout Europe. On the one hand, arguments about the need to reduce prison numbers, as well the consistent findings that prisoners can be integrated into society more effectively if they are subject to a period of supervision in the community, have made early release policies attractive to governments and to academic commentators. On the other hand, there are concerns that early release may not be applied fairly to all prisoners. A comparative perspective on how the release of prisoners is implemented is particularly important as there is political move towards encouraging the moving of EU prisoners to their home jurisdictions to serve their sentences. This raises important questions of fairness and justice as each country operates very different systems of release and parole. At the moment, there is a dearth of comparative information on release from prison across Europe. This book aims to meet this need and explores some of the key themes and issues. Part of the focus is on Council of Europe Recommendations and on European Union measures (e.g. Draft Council Framework Decision of February 2007 'on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments in criminal matters imposing custodial sentences or measures involving deprivation of liberty for the purpose of their enforcement in the European Union'). But the body of the book focuses on country perspectives, providing an invaluable survey of the situation in a number of European countries. The introductory and concluding chapters place the comparative material in a broader perspective. They explain how release policy is related to wider questions about justice and fairness in prison-related decision-making and the changing place of imprisonment in European society.