ABSTRACT
We will seek to explore what is meant by the “enforcement of sentences” and the relationship between the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) and the execution of prison sentences that have been lawfully imposed by domestic courts. The question of whether any such role does in fact exist remains confused and, in the case of prisoners serving determinate sentences, it remains largely unexplored. In seeking to identify whether there are any underlying principles engaging fundamental rights that are capable of cross-jurisdictional application, it is necessary to look back to the genesis of judicial oversight of indeterminate sentences to try and draw out the themes that have mandated the application of the Convention in place of deference to domestic law. We will predominantly examine the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights as the expression of the rights that have been afforded judicial recognition. The “supervision of sentences” may reflect the history of this European jurisprudence but it is our contention that international law and human rights standards now recognise that the components of prison sentences extend beyond simple containment and punishment and are capable of bringing into play a range of rights that address the execution and administration of the length of the sentence as well as the treatment of individuals during that sentence.
