Alternatives to Imprisonment

1 Handbook of basic principles and promising practices on Alternatives to ImprisonmentCRIMINAL JUSTICE HANDBOOK SERIESUNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIMEV iennaUNITED NATIONSNew York, 2007 Handbook ofbasic principles and promising practicesonAlternatives to ImprisonmentCRIMINAL JUSTICE HANDBOOK SERIESA cknowledgementsThe Handbook on Alternatives to Imprisonment was prepared for the United Nations Officeon Drugs and Crime (UNODC) by Dirk van Zyl Smit, Professor of Comparative andInternational Penal Law, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, formerly Professor ofCriminology and Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town, South handbook was reviewed at an expert group meeting held at UNODC in Vienna from31 October to 1 November 2005.

2 UNODC wishes to acknowledge the valuable contribu-tions received from the following experts who participated in that meeting: Alvaro Mata, Yvon Dandurand, Curt T. Griffiths, Nashaat H. Hussein, KittipongKittayarak, Tapio Lappi-Sep l , Benjamin Naimark-Rowse, Adam Stapleton, and VeraTkachenko. Also contributing throughout the development of the Handbook were MarkShaw, Ricarda Amberg, Anna Giudice, Claudia Baroni, Bernardo Camara, and MiriamMagala of UNODC. Following the expert group meeting, the handbook was revised bySuzanne Schneider and Sharman Esarey, consultants to UNODC.

3 UNODC also wishes to acknowledge the support provided by the governments of Canada,Sweden, and Norway toward the development of the Nations publicationSales No. 978-92-1-148220-1 This document has not been formally Alternatives to Imprisonment 3 consider Alternatives to Imprisonment is to be done? should develop the strategy to Alternatives to Imprisonment ? role of the United the criminal justice system s reach should act?

4 , pre-conviction and pre-sentencing processes to pre-trial in implementing Alternatives to pre-trial requirements for Alternatives to pre-trial should act? and alternative Alternatives to sentences of Imprisonment non-custodial sentences requirements for sentencing Alternatives to Imprisonment at the sentencing should act? of early release: concerns and release on compassionate release and its administrative Who should act? a coherent and of media and Alternatives to and equality 78 Conclusion79ivThis handbook is one of a series of practical tools developed by UNODCto support countries in the implementation of the rule of law and thedevelopment of criminal justice reform.

5 It can be used in a variety of con-texts, including as part of UNODC technical assistance and capacitybuilding projects. The handbook introduces the reader to the basic princi-ples central to understanding Alternatives to Imprisonment as well asdescriptions of promising practices implemented throughout the world. Acompanion Handbook on Restorative Justice Programmes is also availablefrom handbook offers easily accessible information about Alternatives toimprisonment at every stage of the criminal justice process; importantconsiderations for the implementation of Alternatives , including what var-ious actors must do to ensure its success; and examples of systems thathave reduced Imprisonment .

6 The handbook has been written for criminaljustice officials, non-governmental organizations, and members of thecommunity who are working to reduce over-reliance on Imprisonment ; toimprove the delivery of justice, including rehabilitation and reintegration;and to integrate international human rights-based standards and normsinto local policies and practices. The handbook considers general strategies to reduce the reach of thecriminal justice system and thus indirectly avoid the use of also examines various aspects of Alternatives to Imprisonment that one may wish to consider when assessing the needs and demands of acountry s criminal justice system.

7 Importantly, the handbook focuses1 Introduction2systematically on the implementation of Alternatives at the followingphases of the criminal justice system: Pre-trial; Sentencing; Early release of sentenced handbook also highlights strategies to reduce Imprisonment in fourmajor groups for whom Imprisonment has especially deleterious effectsand who can benefit from Alternatives at every level: Children; Drug users; The mentally ill; , the handbook presents the critical components that must be con-sidered in developing a strategy for the development and implementationof a comprehensive range of Alternatives to Imprisonment in order toreduce the prison population, listing not only key factors and elements,but also potential pitfalls and ways to avoid them.

8 The handbook is notintended to serve as a policy prescription for specific sentencing alterna-tives, but rather, seeks to provide guidance on the implementation ofvarious sentencing Alternatives that integrate United Nations standardsand OF BASIC PRINCIPLES AND PROMISING PRACTICES ON Alternatives TO consider Alternatives to Imprisonment ?Prisons are found in every country of the world. Policy-makers andadministrators may therefore simply come to regard them as a given andnot try actively to find Alternatives to them.

9 Yet Imprisonment should notbe taken for granted as the natural form of punishment. In many countriesthe use of Imprisonment as a form of punishment is relatively recent. Itmay be alien to local cultural traditions that for millennia have relied on alter-native ways of dealing with crime. Further, Imprisonment has been shown tobe counterproductive in the rehabilitation and reintegration of those chargedwith minor crimes, as well as for certain vulnerable , in practice, the overall use of Imprisonment is rising throughout theworld, while there is little evidence that its increasing use is improvingpublic safety.

10 There are now more than nine million prisoners worldwideand that number is reality is that the growing numbers ofprisoners are leading to often severe overcrowding in prisons. This isresulting in prison conditions that breach United Nations and other stan-dards that require that all prisoners be treated with the respect due to theirinherent dignity and value as human beings. 31. Introducingalternatives toimprisonment1R. Walmsley, World Prison Population List, International Centre of Prison Studies, King s College,London, are several important reasons for the primary focus to be uponalternatives that reduce the number of people in prison and for imprison-ment to be used only as a last resort:2 Imprisonment and human rightsIndividual liberty is one of the most fundamental of human rights, recog-nized in international human rights instruments and national constitutionsthroughout the world.