Subjects:

Criminal Law

Contents:

Introduction Comparing Prisoners' Rights

1. Prisoners in a Rights Culture: the Case of Germany

2. Prison Reform in Germany: Reform Ideals and Political Compromises

3. The German Prison Act: Principles and Special Provisions

4. Penal Politics and Prison Law in England

5. Prisoners and the Parliamentary Constitution

6. The Jurisprudence of Prisoners' Rights in England

Conclusion

This volume aims to provoke reflection on the English conception and treatment of prisoners' rights, through juxtaposition with the conception of prisoners' rights in Germany. First, the German and English understandings of prisoners' legal status are examined; secondly these understandings are placed against the background of broader social, political, and legal factors; and thirdly, the methodological problems of comparative law are addressed. English and German approaches to prisoners' rights present illuminating contrasts. In England, despite significant judicial activity in the development of a jurisprudence of prisoners' rights, protection of prisoners' rights remains partial and equivocal. Many aspects of prison life are left within the realm of executive discretion. This equivocal commitment to rights in England is juxtaposed with Germany's highly articulated rights culture and its ambitious system of prisoners' rights protection under the Prison Act 1976. The German Prison Act sets out foundational principles of prison administration, affords prisoners positive rights, defines the limitations of prisoners' constitutional rights, and provides prisoners with recourse to a Pr