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International prison standards and transnational criminal justice

van Zyl Smit, Dirk

Authors

Dirk van Zyl Smit



Abstract

Prison standards are an important element of transnational criminal justice. This Article shows how legal standards governing prison conditions emerged at the international and regional levels and considers how, increasingly, these have gained legitimacy. It then describes how these standards are applied in a way that contributes to a recognizable transnational legal order in respect of prison conditions, which has real impact at the national level . The Article pays close attention to the transfer of prisoners between states, as a mechanism that operates transnationally and, in the process, enhances the importance of international prison standards. It concludes that the benefits of common prison standards are mixed. On the positive side, the have the potential to give states that are asked to extradite suspects, or transfer sentenced prisoners, leverage to demand the improvement of prison conditions in the receiving states. There is, however, a risk that states will accept and implicitly endorse sub-standard prison conditions in order to rid themselves of troublesome offenders.

Citation

van Zyl Smit, D. (2019). International prison standards and transnational criminal justice. UC Irvine Journal of International, Transnational, and Comparative Law, 4, 97-123

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 30, 2019
Online Publication Date Dec 31, 2019
Publication Date Dec 31, 2019
Deposit Date Apr 2, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal UC Irvine Journal of International, Transnational, and Comparative Law
Electronic ISSN 2577-0292
Publisher School of Law, University of California, Irvine
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 4
Pages 97-123
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1729082
Publisher URL https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/ucivjtoml4&i=98

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