Browsing Civil Society Prison Reform by Title
Now showing items 50-69 of 85
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Prisoners' rights litigation in South Africa since 1994: a critical evaluation
(Law, Democracy & Development, 2005)It is a sad fact that there is often a huge gap in South Africa between the constitutional promise of a life lived with dignity and respect, on the one hand, and the actual lived reality of people who are supposed to be ... -
Prisoners’ right of access to antiretroviral treatment
(ESR Review, 2006)Prisoners are susceptible to a number of illness and diseases due, in part, to poor living conditions in prisons (e.g. overcrowding and poor nutrition), substance abuse and sexual violence (e.g. male rape). The rate of HIV ... -
Prisons in South Africa's constitutional democracy
(Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2007-10)In this article it will be argued that to make prisons compatible with a constitutional democracy, as understood in South Africa, four requirements need to be met. First, the prison system must have an underlying philosophical ... -
Prisons, the law and overcrowding
(Wits University Press, 2014)This chapter is about a long-standing problem in the South African criminal justice sector that, despite an overhaul of the prison legislation after the enactment of the final Constitution, continues, twenty years on, to ... -
Prosecutorial attitudes towards diversion
(NICRO National Office, 1998)This report investigates a number of issues relating to diversion in an effort to make certain recommendations with regard to the running and management of diversion with a particular emphasis on the discretionary powers ... -
Punished for being Poor: Evidence and Arguments for the Decriminalisation and Declassification of Petty Offences
(Dullah Omar Institute, 2015)The Ouagadougou Declaration and Plan of Action on Accelerating Prison and Penal Reform in Africa of 20031 endorsed recommendations calling for reducing the size of prison populations in Africa. The Plan of Action recommended ... -
Punishment and deterrence: don’t expect prisons to reduce crime
(SA Crime Quarterly, 2008)The belief is thoroughly entrenched that prisons fulfil the triple function of punishing offenders, making society safer by removing dangerous individuals, and deterring potential offenders from committing crime. The fact ... -
Race, gender and socio-economic status in law enforcement in South Africa – are there worrying signs?
(Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, 2013)In the South African context the right to equality has particular significance given the country’s history of statutory unfair racial discrimination. This paper investigates, based on quantitative data, how different ... -
Reaching A Verdict: The impact of minimum sentencing
(South African Crime Quarterly, 2007)The so-called ‘temporary’ minimum sentencing legislation introduced into South African law in 1998 is still in place. The legislation was passed largely in response to high crime rates at the time and the perceived leniency ... -
Reducing prison violence: implications from the literature for South Africa
(Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, 2009)In the past 15 years the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has faced numerous challenges whilst trying to re‐invent itself. This has not been an easy road and in many regards the route to penetrative transformation ... -
Report on the evaluation of the Independent prison visitors (IPV) system
(Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, 2004-05)This report on the IPV system forms part of a larger study into civilian oversight of the correctional system. Saras Jagwanth has completed an evaluation of the Office of the Inspecting Judge, which should be read in ... -
Research report on remand detention in South Africa: an overview of the current law and proposals for reform
(Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative, 2011)The report discusses, firstly, the bail provisions in the Criminal Procedure Act with regard to the right to liberty and in the broader constitutional notion of proportionality. Second, case law from regional and international ... -
A Review of the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons of South
(Law, Democracy & Development, 2005)Independent prison inspectorates and the oversight of prisons by laymen are designed to contribute to improving prison conditions and protecting the human rights of prisoners. The South African model, the Judicial Inspectorate ... -
The right of prisoners to vote in Africa: An update
(Africa Criminal Justice Reform, 2019)Broadly speaking, universal suffrage refers to the rights conferred on adult citizens of a country to vote, however, there are always restrictions to a greater or lesser degree on who can vote in every democratic political ... -
The right to a fair trial and being hearing impaired
(Dullah Omar Institute, 2018)The Cape High Court recently (27 August 2018) overturned on appeal the conviction and sentence of a 62-year old man convicted in the Wynberg Regional Court of murder because the trial court failed to protect his right to ... -
Sexual violence in prisons – Part 1: The duty to provide safe custody and the nature of prison sex
(South African Journal of Criminal Justice, 2011)While the exact extent of sexual victimisation in prisons amongst men is uncertain, it is accepted that this is a universal phenomenon. This article, in two parts, examines sexual violence in South African prisons and ... -
Sexual violence in prisons – Part 2: The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act (32 of 2007) – its implications for male rape in prisons and the Department of Correctional Services
(South African Journal of Criminal Justice, 2011)The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act (32 of 2007), referred to here as the Sexual Offences Act (SOA), established in law a gender-neutral definition of rape and this has important implications ... -
'A short history of time' charting the contribution of social development service delivery to enhance child justice 1996-2006
(Journal of Social Work, 2007)The starting point of this article has been selected as 1996 for several reasons. That year was characterised by three signal events in the history of child justice in South Africa. First, 1996 heralded the adoption of the ... -
A Societal Responsibility : The role of civil society organisations in prisoner support, rehabilitation and reintegration
(Institute for Security Studies and the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, 2008)Civil society organisations play a key role in assisting prisoners and ex-prisoners to reintegrate into society and may at present render the bulk of such services. It is especially in respect of post-release support ... -
The socio-economic impact of pre-trial detention in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia
(Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), 2016)This project seeks to confirm and quantify the socio-economic impact of pre-trial detention on detainees, their families and associated households in the main urban centres of Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia. The aim is to ...