Italy: Overhaul of Criminal Penalties
(May 28, 2014) The Italian Parliament recently adopted Law 67 of April 28, 2014, regulating criminal penalties not involving imprisonment and containing measures on prison reform. (Legge 28 aprile...
View ArticleIndonesia: More Lenient Treatment for Drug Users
(Aug. 12, 2014) On August 16, 2014, a new ministerial regulation will come into force in Indonesia that is designed to promote rehabilitation rather than incarceration of drug users, in some cases...
View ArticleItaly: Compensation for Mistreated Inmates and Other Provisions on Prison...
(Aug. 12, 2014) Italy’s Decree Law No. 92, of June 26, 2014, amends several legislative instruments with the purposes of guaranteeing the rights of persons currently held in Italian prison facilities...
View ArticleItaly: Right to Information of Persons Subject to Imprisonment
(Aug. 14, 2014) Italy’s Legislative Decree No. 101 of 2014, which enters into effect on August 16, 2014, implements European Union Directive 2012/13/UE concerning the right to information of persons...
View ArticleUnited Nations: Revised Standards for Treatment of Prisoners Approved by...
(May 26, 2015) On May 18, 2015, Juan E. Méndez, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, sent an open letter to the U.N. Commission...
View ArticleIsrael: Authorization to Give Forced Medical Treatment to Prisoners on Hunger...
(Oct. 6, 2015) On July 29, 2015, the Knesset (Israels parliament) passed an amendment to the Prisons Ordinance, authorizing, under prescribed circumstances, the provision of medical care to a prisoner...
View ArticleBrazil: New Law Separates Inmates According to Their Crimes
(Oct. 21, 2015) On October 6, 2015, Brazilian President Dilma Roussef signed Law No. 13,167, which amends article 84 of the current Prison Law to establish the criteria to be used for the separation of...
View ArticleUnited Nations: Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals Arrests French Journalist
(Apr. 6, 2016) The United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) on March 24, 2016, arrested French journalist Florence Hartmann, based on a warrant issued in November 2011 by...
View ArticleCambodia: Plan to Reform Torture Prevention Committee
(Apr. 19, 2016) Although plans have not been made concrete, Cambodia’s Interior Minister, Sar Kheng, has announced that the government’s Committee Against Torture will be reformed. The announcement...
View ArticleSri Lanka: Criticism of Ongoing Use of Torture
(May 13, 2016) In a statement following a nine-day trip to Sri Lanka, Juan E. Méndez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, claimed that criminal and terrorism investigators in Sri Lanka...
View ArticleVenezuela: Prohibition of Use of Cellular Phones and Internet by Inmates
(Aug. 25, 2016) The Venezeulan Congress recently passed the Law Regulating the Use of Cellular Phones and the Internet Inside Penitentiaries, prohibiting the use of cellular phones and the Internet in...
View ArticleFrance: Continuous Video Surveillance of Prisoner Maintained
(Sept. 13, 2016) The Conseil d’État (the highest administrative jurisdiction in France) has rejected a request to suspend continuous video surveillance of Salah Abdeslam, an imprisoned suspect in the...
View ArticleIsrael: Increase in Prisoners’ Living Space Mandated
(June 30, 2017) On June 13, 2017, Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as a High Court of Justice, accepted petitions submitted by several associations and ordered the state to increase the personal living...
View ArticleEgypt: British Woman Sentenced for Carrying Painkillers
(Apr. 2, 2018) On December 26, 2017, the Criminal Court of Safaga, a town on the coast of the Red Sea, sentenced a British woman to three years in prison and fined her 100,000 Egyptian pounds (EGP)...
View ArticleItaly: Constitutional Court Rules on Constitutionality of Prison Benefits...
(Sept. 17, 2018) On July 11, 2018, the Italian Constitutional Court issued a decision on the constitutional legitimacy of article 58-quater of Law No. 354 of 1975 regarding prison benefits for persons...
View ArticleItaly: Right to Strike in Essential Public Services
(Oct. 2, 2018) On July 27, 2018, the Italian Constitutional Court issued a decision incidentally on the constitutional legitimacy of the right to strike by certain government employees (in this case,...
View ArticleIsrael: Amendment Law Passed Allowing Early Release to Accommodate Prison...
(Dec. 12, 2018) On November 5, 2018, the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) passed the Prisons Ordinance (Amendment No. 54 Temporary Provision) Law, 5779-2018 (Amendment Law) (SEFER HAHUKIM [SH] [BOOK OF...
View ArticleItaly: Measures for Simplification of Companies and Public Administration...
(Feb. 5, 2019) On December 12, 2018, new measures to simplify public administration and promote the economy entered into force in Italy. (Decree-Law No. 135 of December 14, 2018, Urgent Provisions on...
View ArticleItaly: Constitutional Court Issues Decision on Illicit Trafficking and...
(Apr. 15, 2019) On March 13, 2019, the Italian Constitutional Court issued a decision on the production, trafficking, and illicit possession of narcotic and psychotropic substances, declaring part of...
View ArticleItaly: Legal Provision Not Allowing Home Detention Ruled Unconstitutional
(May 16, 2019) On April 19, 2019, the Italian Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional article 47-ter, paragraph 1-ter of Law No. 354 of July 26, 1975, because it failed to provide for...
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