PRILA Experiencing Prison Oversight: Interviews with NPMs and oversight bodies

The Prisons: the rule of law, accountability, and rights (PRILA) project created the first account of how mechanisms for securing rights, ensuring accountability, and achieving adherence to the rule of law are experienced in European prisons. Prisons are places far from public view, and because of this distance, the protection of human rights and the rule of law can be at risk. There is a need for robust oversight of what happens in prison.

Funded by the European Research Council, this project examined how people in prison, prison staff, and staff of accountability bodies (such as inspectorates and Ombudsmen) experience the structures designed to ensure actions taken in prison are fair, transparent, and compliant with human rights.

Specifically, PRILA helps us to understand:

• How prisoners experience complaints procedures, inspection and monitoring, and taking legal action.

• How prison managers and prison officers/guards experience complaints, monitoring and external scrutiny.

• How staff of bodies like Ombudsmen and inspectorates experience their work and its challenges.