The British Government faces European Courts over refusing voting rights of prisoners. Read more
Prison building versus reducing prisoner numbers - can the coalition negotiate a compromise on penal policy? Read more
The US Supreme Court has repealed laws which enabled states to imprison children convicted of non-homicide offences without the possibility of parole. Read more
In an article in 'The Guardian', Alan Travis reports on soaring numbers in prisons in England & Wales; the article also reports that community sentences shown to have a lower re-offending rate than short prison sentences. Read more
For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of state prisoners in the United States has declined, according to survey data compiled by the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States, in partnership with the Association of State Correctional Administrators Read more
The Independent Monitoring Board for Northern Ireland has published the Annual Report for 2008/09 for Hydebank Wood Prison and Young Offenders Centre, including 54 recommendations. Read more
A new literature review by Dr Una Convery examines women offenders’ needs and approaches adopted towards women in terms of policy and practice to address their offending. It is intended to help inform the development of best practice in the approaches adopted towards women who offend in Northern Ireland. Read more
Alliance leader and the man tipped for the North's justice post, David Ford, makes promising noises about alternatives to prison. Read more
A new report by the cross-party Home Affairs Committee has called on the government to place more emphasis on early intervention when it comes to dealing with potential young offenders. Read more
A new report from the Criminal Justice Inspectorate of Northern Ireland follows the treatment of people with mental health problems through the criminal justice system, starting with the police, moving through prosecution and the courts and ending up with prisons and probation. Read more
