ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the rules of European law and policy that impact on the release of sentenced prisoners. The first section focuses on the institutions of the Council of Europe that have set standards for early release. These include various recommendations of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and reports of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture which encourage early release and recommend ways in which it can be implemented fairly and effectively. Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights that lay down binding rules for early release, particularly in the case of life imprisonment and preventive detention, are also considered closely, as are the Council of Europe Conventions that relate to the transfer of prisoners and thus potentially to their early release.
The second section sketches the growing role of the European Union in the sphere of criminal law and, more specifically, in the enforcement of sentences. Particular attention is paid to new Framework Decisions that will facilitate prisoner transfers within the European Union, which may take place without the consent of the prisoners concerned and may also impact significantly on how long such prisoners serve in practice before being released.
The final section of the chapter analyses the recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights that could be applied to both Council of Europe and European Union rules that relate to early release. It concludes that early release, particularly when it follows after a prisoner has been transferred, raises difficult issues of equity. 10A wider understanding of the human rights implications of early-release procedures is essential to avoid inequitable outcomes in these cases.
