Doc. 9729

6 March 2003

Situation of European prisons and pre-trial detention centres

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mr Hunault and others

1.        The Assembly recalls its Recommendation 1257 (1995) on conditions of detention in Council of Europe member states. In this recommendation, the Assembly expressed its concern over the sharp rise in the prison population in Europe, and the resulting overcrowding, and deterioration of conditions of detention.

2.        The Assembly is concerned that, eight years later, the situation in European prisons and pre-trial detention centres has deteriorated further. Ever-rising numbers of prisoners and detainees contrast with ever-falling numbers of staff. Living conditions in many prisons and pre-trial detention centres have become incompatible with the requirement of respect for human dignity.

3.        One of the measures which might help to improve the situation would be the introduction of a permanent, independent supervision of the prison and pre-trial detention system. This would help to gauge developments in prison policies and shed more light on living conditions in a closed world. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) already does admirable work in this field. However, its effectiveness is somewhat hampered by the confidentiality of its mechanisms. A parliamentary body may be more suited to the stated purpose.

4.       Some countries already allow parliamentarians to visit any prison or pre-trial detention centre on the territory of their home country. It would be a welcome development if this right could be extended to all parliamentarians whose countries are members of the Council of Europe.

5.        The Assembly thus recommends that the Committee of Ministers draw up a European Convention on parliamentary access to prisons and pre-trial detention centres. This Convention should:

i. authorise all parliamentarians who are members of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly to visit, without giving advance notice, any prison or pre-trial detention centre on the territory of their home country;

ii. authorise the members of the Sub-Committee on Penal Law and Criminology of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to visit, without giving advance notice, any prison or pre-trial detention centre on the territory of any Council of Europe member state;

iii. instruct the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to present to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, every year, on the basis of the work of this Sub-Committee, a precise report evaluating the conditions of detention in the prisons and pre-trial detention centres of all the member states of the Council of Europe;

iv. establish a Charter of the rights and duties of prisoners.

6.        Furthermore, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers update the European prison rules, in particular adding a catalogue of the rights of prisoners and the rights of pre-trial detainees.

Signed ¹:

Hunault, France, EDG

Auken, Denmark, UEL

Bruce, United Kingdom, LDR

Cilevičs, Latvia, SOC

Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR

Coifan, Romania, LDR

Davis, United Kingdom, SOC

Dimas, Greece, EPP

Fico, Slovakia, SOC

Frunda, Romania, EPP

Guardans, Spain, LDR

Janssen van Raaij, Netherlands, NR

Jaskiernia, Poland, SOC

Kroll, Poland, EPP

Lydeka, Lithuania, LDR

Manzella, Italy, SOC

McNamara, United Kingdom, SOC

Olteanu, Romania, SOC

Pourgourides, Cyprus, EPP

Shybko, Ukraine, SOC

Škrabalo, Croatia, LDR

Tabajdi, Hungary, SOC

Tkáč, Slovakia, EDG

Toshev, Bulgaria, EPP

Wohlwend, Liechtenstein, EPP

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group