Current Comment
| Published date | 01 June 1974 |
| Date | 01 June 1974 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000486587400700206 |
110
Current
Comment
AUST.N.ZJ.C. (1974)7
Standard Minimum Rules
for
the Treatment
of
Prisoners
, l
PRISONS, and their administration, have become
markedly
newsworthy
over
recent months and a number of action groups
are
demanding changes in
many
aspects of prison management. It is for this reason
that
we
are
publishing the
"Standard
Minimum Rules for the
Treatment
of
Prisoners."
These Rules
were
adopted by the
First
United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and
Treatment of Offenders held in Geneva in
1955.
The Rules have been discussed
at
all subsequent Congresses and will be discussed again in Toronto in
1975.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS (EDITOR)
1. The following rules
are
not intended to des-
cribe in detail a model system of penal in-
stitutions. They seek only, on the basis of the
general consensus of contemporary thought and
the essential elements of. the most adequate
systems of today, to set out what is generally ac-
cepted as being good principle and. practice in
the
treatment
of prisoners and the management
of institutions.
2. In view of the
great
variety of legal, social,
economic and geographical conditions of the
world, it is evident that not all of the rules
are
capable of application in all places and at all
times. They should, however, serve to stimulate
aconstant endeavour to overcome practical dif-
ficulties in the way of their application, in the
knowledge that they represent, as a whole, the
minimum conditions which
are
accepted as suit-
able by the United Nations.
3. On the other hand, the rules cover a field in
which thought is constantly developing. They
are
not intended to preclude experiment and prac-
tices, provided these
are
in harmony with the
principles and seek to further the purposes which
derive from the text of the rules as a whole. It
will always be justifiable for the central prison
administration to authorise departures from the
rules in this spirit.
4. (1)
Part
I of the rules covers the general
management of institutions, and is applicable to
all categories of prisoners, criminal or civil, un-
tried or convicted, including prisoners subject to
"security
measures"
or corrective measures or-
dered by the judge.
(2)
Part
II contains rules applicable only to the
special categories dealt with in each section.
Nevertheless, the rules under section A, appli-
cable to prisoners under sentence, shall be equal-
ly applicable to categories of prisoners dealt
with in sections B, C and D, provided they do not
conflict with the rules governing those cate-
gories and
are
for their benefit.
5. (1) The rules do not seek to regulate the
management of institutions set aside for young
persons such as Borstal institutions or correctio-
nal schools, but in general
part
I would be equal-
ly applicable in such institutions.
(2) The category of young prisoners should in-
clude at least all young persons who come within
the jurisdiction of juvenile courts. As a rule,
such young persons should not be sentenced to
imprisonment.
PART 1. RULES OF GENERAL
APPLICATION
Basicprinciple
6. (1) The following rules shall be applied im-
partially. There shall be no discrimination on
grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social ori-
gin, property, birth or other status.
(2) On the other hand, it is necessary to re-
spect the religious beliefs and moral precepts of
the group to which a prisoner belongs.
Register
7. (1) In every place where persons
are
impris-
oned there shall be kept a bound registration
book with numbered pages in which shall be en-
tered in respect of each prisoner received:
(a) Information concerning his identity;
(b) The reasons for his commitment and the
authority therefor;
(c) The day and hour of his admission and re-
lease.
(2) No person shall be received in an in-
stitution without a valid commitment order of
which the details shall have been previously en-
tered in the register.
Separation
of
categories
8. The different categories of prisoners shall
be kept in
separate
institutions or
parts
of in-
stitutions taking account of their sex, age, crimi-
nal record, the legal reason for their detention
and the necessities of their treatment. Thus:
(a) Men and women shall so far as possible be
detained in
separate
institutions; in an in-
stitution which receives both men and women
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