RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57

CURRENT ISSUES IN CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT AND
EFFECTIVE COUNTERMEASURES
Somboon Prasopnetr*
I. PRISON OVERCROWDING
Prison overcrowding is one of the major
issues currently faced by many countries
in Asia and Pacific region. In Thailand,for example, nearly 200,000 inmates arein prisons with a total capacity of only
80,000 persons. A sharp rise in the inmate
population occurred between 1996 and1999 when numbers doubled from 100,000
to 200,000. Among today’s inmates, 25
percent or 51,039 inmates are involved incourt processes or petitioning appeals.
Another 11 percent are detained during thecourse of police investigations. Among theconvicted inmates, 30 percent committed
light offenses and have sentences of not
more than two years. Other countries in
Asia also have the same prison
overcrowding problem, but may bedifferent on the degree of seriousness. In
some countries in the Caribbean Sea, thenumber of prisoners rose over 200 percent
while the number of those in Western
Europe is over 120 percent in recent years.
Problems as a result of prison
overcrowding have been numerous. Prison
overcrowding not only causes lack of spaceand facilities to accommodate prisoners,
but also a host of other problems for prison
administration. It causes strain on staff
and effective administration. It impedes
the vocational training and othercorrectional programmes. In some places,
inmates have to wait upwards for threemonths on a waiting list to be admitted into
educational or vocational programs
because the number of inmates is too great.

In many prisons, many inmates are
unemployed and have nothing to do.
Proper classification and separation
cannot be practicable in an overcrowding
prison. If classification is to work properly,
there must be some spare capacity in a
prison so that inmates may be allocatedaccording to their security rating and theirtreatment needs. Thus, under theovercrowding conditions it is impossible toimplement any effective ways ofrehabilitation of inmates. The job of justkeeping large number of inmates in prison
is in itself occupies all the prison officers’
time and energy. Furthermore, the wide
spread of contagious diseases in suchcircumstance is inevitable and the U.N.
Standard Minimum Rules cannot beapplied. These lead to the violation ofhuman rights and dignities.
Prison overcrowding also causes tension
and stress among inmates. There are many
research studies supporting this notion.
Mccain et.al1, for example, indicated thathigh degrees of sustained crowding have awide variety of negative psychological andphysiological effects, including increased
illness complaint rates, higher death andsuicide rates and higher disciplinary
infraction rates. Nacci et.al2 also revealed
that high density is associated with highrates of assaultiveness with therelationship being strongest in institutions
housing young adults.

1* Deputy Director-General, Department ofCorrections, Thailand.

314

Q. Mccain, V.C. Cox and P Panlus, Effect of Prison
Crowding on Inmate Behavior, University of Texas,
1980.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
The causes of prison overcrowding iscomplicated and varies from nation tonation. The fact is that more people havebeen sentenced to imprisonment but there
are not enough places in prison. This has
resulted in prison overcrowding. The
enormous number of people admitted toprison may be the result of an increase incrime, war on drugs, effective police andprosecution operation, and tougher
sentencing. In some countries there is anunjustifiably large number of crime
categories, such as drugs, in the criminal
law for which long term imprisonment is aform of punishment. Thus, 60 percept of
the inmates population may be sentenced
for drugs related offenses. Moreover, theinsufficient use of alternative forms ofpunishment which could be applied insteadof imprisonment is another factor. In somecountries, if such measures have been
implemented, most judges still look toward
punitive forms of punishment by using
imprisonment.
In the United Kingdom and the UnitedStates of America, many non - custodial
measures or alternatives to imprisonment
have been widely used, the details of which
are as follows:
1. Absolute and Conditional Discharge.
This measure will be used for those
who do not deserve to be punished or
to be put under probation. For
conditional discharge, the offendermust not violate the conditions fixedby the court for not more than 3 years.
2. Binding Over. Instead of punishment
the court may order the offenders tomake a contract with a fixed amountof money which will be forfeited incase they do not come to court on theappointment.
2

P. Nacci, H. Teitelbeaum and J. Prather, Violencein Federal Prisons: The Effect of Population Density
on Misconduct, National Institute of Justice, 1977

3. Fines. This is another measure ofpunishment which the court can use
instead of imprisonment when it isdeemed fit.
4. Probation. Under this measure, theoffenders will be released but they,
have to follow the conditions fixed by
the court and must be under thesupervision of probation officers for
not less than 1 year and not morethan 3 years.
5. S u s p e n d e d S e n t e n c e s o f
Imprisonment. In case the court will
imprison the offenders for not morethan 2 years, suspended sentences ofimprisonment may be used from 1 3 years.
6. Commital to the Care of a Fit Person,
In case the offender is less than 17
years, the court may commit him to
the care of a person who is deemed
fit until he is 18 years old in order toavoid the bad environment which heis confronting.
7. Remission and Release on Licence orParole. For those who are imprisoned
for more than 1 month (except those
who serve life sentences) they will be
eligible for release after 2/3 years of
their sentences have been served.
Parole may also be granted by the
Parole Board to those who havealready served 1/3 of their sentences.
But for those who serve life sentences,
the Minister of Home Office isempowered to grant parole after
discussing with the Lord Chief
Justice, the judge who considers thecase and the Parole Board.3
8. Community Service. This measuregenerally involves public service fornonprofit organisations. It usually
involves the performance of unpaid

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
labor by the offender in an attempt
to pay a debt to society, withassignments ranging from cleaning
litter from roadsides and performing
lawn maintenance on government
facilities, to janitorial work inchurches or schools, to building parks
and playgrounds, reparing public
housing and serving as a volunteer
in a hospital or rehab center. The
communities undoubtedly benefit
from the thousands of hours of freelabor, and the city government saves
money by not having to jail someoffenders.
9. House Arrest, Home Confinement orHome Detention. This measurerequires the offender to remain
within the confines of the homeduring specified times and to adhere
to a strict curfew. Additional
conditions, such as restrictions on
visitors and the prohibition of drugs
or alcohol use may also be stipulated.
The offender is normally allowed toleave only for work and reasons suchas grocery shopping, community
service assignment and doctor
appointments. However, the successof house arrest programs has beenbolstered by the use of electronicmonitoring devices which will
enhance the level of supervision
directed toward each offender.
Electronic monitoring uses telemetry
devices to keep track of an offender’s
whereabouts.
10.Day Reporting Centers. These are
non-residential locations at which
offenders must appear, daily toparticipate in programed activities
3

Home Office The Sentence of the Court: A Handbookof Courts on the Treatment of Offenders, (Her
Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1978) p.p. 926 and p.p. 38-54

316

and to work out a schedule detailingtheir activities outside the center.
Offenders are also required tomaintain frequent phone
communications with center staff andto submit to random drug and alcohol
testing.
11.Residential Community Corrections.
These include halfway houses, prerelease centers, work furlough andcommunity work centers, community
treatment centers and restitution
centers. Residents may live either
part-time or full-time at such centers,
depending on other conditions set
forth by the court. These types ofcenters may be used as an alternative
to sending an offender to jail or prison
or may be a transitional stop foroffenders just released fromincarceration, to determine if they are
ready to return to society.4
Apart from the lack of front-end options
such as probation suspensions ofprosecution and other forms of alternatives
to incarceration, the lack of back-end
options such as parole, pardon or sentence
remission is also another factor for prison
overcrowding. The insufficiency or the lackof back-end option to release inmates fromprisons may be due to limited opportunity
for early release or release on bail, or
substituting imprisonment for a morelenient punishment. In Thailand, forexample, there are many restrictions forparole application especially for those whoare drug traffickers. Royal Pardon cannot
be implemented as frequently as it used tobe. Part of the factors for this restrictionis the hardening attitude of the public
including criminal justice personnel
4

Norman A. Carlson, Karen M. Hess and Christine
M. H. Orthman Corrections in the 21st Century: A
Practical Approach, (An International Thompson
Publishing Company, U.S.A., 1999) p.p. 157-163

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
towards crimes and offenders which isreflected in the demands for the use of moreharsh punishment.
The most easy solution to prison
overcrowding is obviously to build moreprisons, but it is very expensive and is not
the right way to solve the problem.
However, many countries use this methodby building more prisons year by year.
Some countries may use similar methods
by converting unused facilities or
expanding current prisons in order to havemore capacity. It is not surprising that
more and more prisons have been built in
Asia and the Pacific for the past decade.
This solution presupposes the notion thatthe institutional treatment of inmates isthe only effective measure to solve thecrime problem. But it has been long provedthat this is not true. The more we built
new prisons, the more imprisonment will
be used. In order to alleviate the problem,
more alternatives to incarceration must be
used, especially for those who are first time
offenders or commit minor offences.
Moreover, bail should be granted more forunconvicted offenders and imprisonment
must be used as the last resort and for those
who are habitual or professional criminals
only.

2. Improve access to, andco - ordination within, thecriminal justice system
Increasing public access to the police,
courts and prisons engenders publicconfidence and transparency. Coordinating and streamlining the work of
the criminal justice agencies assists both
efficiency and compliance withinternational human rights standards.
3. Invest in crime prevention andcrime reduction
Problem solving partnerships between
the police, other public agencies, businesses
and communities can produce effectiveplans to reduce the risk factors which lie
behind much crime drug misuse, family
difficulties, school failure, unemployment.
4. Divert minor cases from thecriminal justice system
Many cases can be effectively dealt withoutside the formal criminal justice system.
5. Reduce pre-trial detention
In some countries as many as 75% of theprison population may be awaiting trial.
Alternatives such as bail and regularreviews of cases can reduce pre - trial
detention.

At the Tenth United Nations Congresson the Prevention of Crime and theTreatment of Offenders in Vienna on April
2000, the Penal Reform International
Organisation introduced a 10 point plan toreduce imprisonment. These points wereas follows:

6. Develop constructive alternatives
to custodial sentences
Courts need sentencing options that are
effective and not just a ‘soft option’: without
alternatives, imprisonment as apunishment of ‘last resort’ becomes
commonplace.

1. Inform public opinion
Increasing use of imprisonment is often
blamed on public demand for punishment.
Yet the public are often misinformed about
how the system operates and will support
effective non-custodial measures.

7. Reduce sentence lengths andensure consistent sentencing
practice
Sentencers need guidance to deter
inconsistent sentencing practices.

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
8. Develop, special arrangements
for youth offenders that keepthem out of prisonChildren in conflict with the law (under18) should be diverted from the criminal
justice process. A term of imprisonment
should be strictly a measure of resort andfor the shortest appropriate period of time.
9. Treat rather than punish drug
addicts and mentally disordered
offenders
Courts should be able to order treatment
for those whose crimes are often committed
to feed their addiction. Prison is not asuitable institution for mentally ill people.
10. Ensure the system is fair to all
Imprisonment
impacts
disproportionately on the poor, thedispossessed and minorities who facediscrimination outside. Monitoring shouldtake place at every stage of the criminal
justice system to ensure that
discrimination does not take place and thatthe efforts to reduce imprisonment
suggested in this plan are made in respectof all members of the community.
In my opinion, the first recommendation
on informing public opinion is very
important. The public’s demand for harshpunishment leads to longer sentences
imposed by the courts and opposition to any
kind of leniency in punishment. Thus,
imforming the public about the advantagesof non-custodial measures is necessary.
However, recommendations concerning cooperation from, the courts to reduce pretrial detention and to use more alternatives
to prisons may long be expected in somedeveloping countries. On the other hand,a law is needed to provide sentencing
options for non-custodial measures and torequire judges to use such alternatives
unless there is an exception according to
the law. Short term sentences should not
be allowed to be imposed on inmates, rather

318

probation or other measures of community- based corrections should be implemented.
In sum, the problem of prison
overcrowding can only be alleviated byusing more alternative measures toincarceration especially for those who are
not habitual or professional criminals.
Building more prisons is not an answer tothe problem. In this connection, theamendment of the law to require judges touse such alternatives in case there is no
exception is necessary especially in somecountries where judges are prone to use
only imprisonment as a main measure ofpunishment. Furthermore, making thecourts responsible for speedy trial andexpanding various forms of alternatives toimprisonment is also recommended.
Lastly, the public should be well informedof the disadvantages of short-term sentence
which will have bad effects on the offenderrather than good ones. He has to lose hisjob, social status and family. Morever, he
may have the tendency to commit morecrimes in the future as a result of having
an opportunity to learn the criminal careerfrom his friends during incarceration. In
this connection, the public should be
informed of the advantages of communitybased correction which have lower costs
than incarceration while the offender’swork, social status and family are notcontaminated. This will reduce the public
attitude of using only imprisonment insome countries.
II. IMPROVEMENT OF PRISONCONDITIONS
It is recognized that inmates are humanbeings and they deserve to be treated with
dignity and respect so that they can be
resocialized to become more responsible
people. In this respect, the improvementof prison conditions is very important for
the rehabilitation process of the inmates.
Overcrowding, lack of hygiene, un-sanitary

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
conditions, HIV and other infectious
diseases, should not prevail in the prison.
Inmates should be ensured the adequacyof medical and other services should be thesame as outside including living condition.
Furthermore, they should be provided withindividual assistance and opportunities todevelop their own potential with a view toreintegrate as normal citizens. Therefore,
contacts with the outside world are an
essential part of their reintegration into
society.
Many countries in Asia and PacificRegion are now confronted with the issue
of prison conditions. Prisons in thesecountries have been built for many years
and usually are overcrowded. Thus, prison
conditions in many countries in this region
continue, to fall short of the United Nations
and other acceptable standards. These
problems are the main obstacles of thefulfillment of the Standards.
The United Nations Standard Minimum
Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
constitute a landmark in the process ofprison condition reform. They have had asignificant impact on the law and practices
of many countries in the regions. However,there are some problems related to theimplementation of the U. N. Rules.
The major problem is overcrowding.
Prisons in Asia, in general are overcrowded.
This issue directly affects the prison
condition and the implementation of the
U.N. Rules. When more people are being
sentenced to imprisonment accompanied
by a decrease in the number of places inprison, the result is prison overcrowding
and a deterioration in living conditions inprisons. Overcrowding may contribute tohigher levels of violence and increase
spread of illness such as AIDS,
Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
Classification of prisoners cannot be
carried on because there are no places tosegregate them. This problem also affects
both institutional management and official
satisfaction. Thus, under thesecircumstances any standards cannot beapplied.
The social context is also important. For
example, prison officials are generally
affected by the public, social and political
attitude. Particularly in the developing
countries where aggressive feeling stillprevails in the community, the group of old
and unprogressive prison staff are mostly
affected. It is impossible to pension themoff and to recruit young progressive ones.
The idea of arranging training courses forthe old guards to assume new roles inprogressive prison administration is founduneffective. Therefore, the aim to promote
progressive treatment following theStandard Minimum Rules will need arather long time to achieve. The
administrators of prisons have to accept
means of gradually helping old staff topension off sooner and to replace them withnew young progressive recruits.
Related to the problem of overcrowdingis the lack of financial resources of many
countries to upgrade the prison conditions.
The lack of financial resources to build a
new and modern prison to replace the oldone. There is also a lack of funds tofacilitate the implementation of modern
correctional programs.
The fourth problem is theimplementation of the U.N. Rules which
may be too expensive. In many countries,
not all of the Rules are applicable in allplaces and at all times because of the great
variety of legal, cultural, geographicalconditions and wealth. It seems to me that,
if the Rules are too expensive, it is difficult
for the poor countries to implement. In
these countries the U.N. Rules may beoverlooked owing to the shortage of budget
to improve the living standards of inmates

319

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
and also to build standard prisons. Under
this circumstance, the implementation of
any standard rules cannot be expected.
Prison is only the place to detain criminals
while deteriorated living conditions are
neglected.
The most important problem for the U.N.
Rules implementation is the lack ofmechanisms to encourage and enforce
country members to follow. It has only
paper - based reporting mechanisms which
are not effective. Thus, every country
should be encouraged to have supervisory
mechanisms and regular inspection at
national and local levels. Suchmechanisms should be used by bothgovernmental and non - governmentalorganizations.
From my conclusions, prison conditions
are very important for prisoners’
rehabilitation and human rights. They
should be treated as normal persons, so
their living conditions must not be different
from those outside. To achieve theobjective, many problems have to beeradicated.
1. The problem of prison overcrowding
must be solved by using more non custodial measures or alternatives toimprisonment or community - based
corrections especially for those whoare not habitual or professional
criminals.
2. The U.N. Standard Minimum Rules
for the Treatment of Prisoners andRelated Recommendations and otherStandards should be trained to all
prison staff including theadministrators and the new recruits
in order to gain cooperation for the
implementation as much as possible.
3. The improvement of prison conditions
should be regarded by the320

Government of each country as amajor problem of development, In
this connection, financial supportshould be granted to the concernedorganisations for such matters. In
most developing countries, prison or
correctional work has been neglectedor regarded by the Government as
least important. This will surely
impede the improvement of prison
conditions since the budget will not
be allocated.
4. Since the U.N. or other standards
may not be suitable for all countries
according to the difference in legal,
cultural, geographical conditions andwealth as having been stated above,all countries should have their own
suitable standards by using the U.N.
and other standards as theframework. In fact, we cannot denythat there is no unique standards
which can be used by all countries in
the world.
5. I n o r d e r t o e n s u r e t h eimplementation of such standards orthe improvement of prison conditions,
all countries should be encouraged tohave supervisory mechanisms andregular inspection by bothgovernmental and non-governmentalorganisations at national and local
level. The inspection organisations
should be independent and caninspect at all times without informing
beforehand. After the inspection, areport should be submitted to therelated organisations for theirremedies. Opening prisons toinspection and outside scrutiny
promotes transparency andaccountability and so better ensuresthat prison rules are put into practiceand that prisons are safer places for
all concerned.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
III. FOREIGN PRISONERS AND
PRISONER TRANSFER TREATIES
Foreign prisoners incarcerated in othercountries, is now becoming one of the most
crucial issues facing correctional
administrators all over the world. The
increasing tourism industry, migrating forjob opportunities, and the changing
economic and political regime haveincreased the number of people travelling
and working abroad. As a result, thenumbers of people involved in crime related
to drugs, illegal entry, credit card fraud etc.,
have increased sharply. These offenders
are arrested and incarcerated abroad andhave to face cultural differences as well as
unfamiliar food and living conditions inforeign prisons. Moreover, they frequently
face the difficulties in communication withprison officers and other prisoners as wellas lack of qualified lawyers and inadequate
medical care. Foreign prisoners, on theother hand, cause economic andadministrative burdens for prison
administrations in many countries.
One of the most effective methods tosolve the problem of foreign prisoners is theprisoner transfer treaty. Although thetreaty itself does very little in solving the
problem of prisoners while they are inforeign countries, it does allow theseprisoners to return home to serve the restto their sentences. At present, there aremany countries engaged in these treaties,
both by multilateral and bilateral treaties.
A. Multilateral Treaties
For multilateral treaties, a group ofcountries join together to make anagreement on transfer of prisoners. They
agree to follow the same conditions andprocedures. There are many groups ofcountries participating in multilateraltreaties on transfer of prisoners. The
Council of Europe Prisoner Transfer Treaty
is an example. It has many countries, notexclusively for members of European
states, that participate. The Organizationof American States (OAS) Prisoner
Transfer Treaty is another example thatinvolves all countries in the North andSouth American continent. This treaty isdifferent from other treaties in that theinitial request for transfer can be started
by either the sentencing state, or by theadministering state.
The oldest cooperation in theenforcement of foreign penal judgement
was among Arab countries. However,prisoner transfer treaties among thementered into force in 1985.
The Arab prisoner transfer treaty does
not require the consent of the sentenced
person for this transfer. The transfer isallowed if the following conditions are met;a) the sanction imposed involves
deprivation of liberty, the minimum
term of which, to be served is no lessthan six months;b) the penalty has been imposed for an
offence for which extradition may not
be granted;c) the offence is punishable in theprisoner ’s home country withimprisonment of no less than six
months;d) both the sentencing and enforcing
states agree to the transfer5
Perhaps the biggest number of countries
involved in prisoner transfer treaties is theprisoner transfer treaty of the British
Commonwealth countries. This treaty
links upwards of 35 countries in all partsof the world. The prisoner transfer treaty
among African countries involves 15
countries. Although the treaty provides forthe extradition of both accused and5Richard D. Atkins (ed) Prisoner Transfer Treaties:
A Practical Guide, International Legal Defense
Counsel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S.A. 1995

321

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 57
convicted offenders, it is also applied to thetransfer of prisoners.
B. Bilateral Treaties
In case there is no available multilateraltreaty, individual countries have toapproach other countries for negotiating
bilateral treaties. Thus, conditions andprocedures for transferring prisoners ofeach country may differ from anothertreaty depending on the negotiation of theparties. Thailand, for example, has
negotiated separate treaties with many
countries. Each treaty is unique. The firsttreaty of prisoner transfer between
Thailand and the U.S.A., was signed on
October 29, 1982 and became effective
afterwards. Today, Thailand has alreadysigned treaties with many countries. The
treaties that have been ratified and comeinto effect are the treaties with theserespective countries:
France; effective in 1985.
Spain; effective in 1987.
Canada; effective in 1988.
United Statesof America; effective in 1988.
Italy; effective in 1990.
Sweden; effective in 1990.
Great Britain ; effective in 1991.
Finland; effective in 1992.
Portugal; effective in 1994.
Austria; effective in 1994.
Germany; effective in 1996,
Poland; effective in 1999.
Denmark; effective in 2000.
To d a t e , 2 3 0 f o r e i g n p r i s o n e r s
incarcerated in Thai prisons weretransferred to their home land, and 5 Thai
prisoners were transferred back to carryout their sentences in Thailand.
According to the Thai Legislation ofProcedure for Cooperation between Statesin the Execution on Penal Sentences. B.E.
2527 (1984), the general principle of322

prisoner transfer is based on:
1. A person sentenced in the territoryof one party may be transferred to theterritory of another party.
2. A transfer of prisoners should be
effected in cases where the offense
giving rise to conviction is punishable
by deprivation of liberty by the
judicial authorities of both thetransferring state and receiving
state.
3. The offender is not sentenced in
respect of an offense under the lawof Thailand:
3.1 against the internal or external
security of the state;
3.2 against the monarch, his consort
or his sons or daughters; or
3.3 against legislation protecting
national art treasures.
4. The sentence imposed on the offenderis one of imprisonment, confinement
or any other form of deprivation ofliberty in any institution.
4.1 for life;
4.2 for an indeterminate period on
account of mental incapacity, or;
4.3 for a fixed period of which at least
one year remains to be served at
the time of the request fortransfer.
5. The offender has served in thetransferring state any minimum
period of imprisonment, confinement
or deprivation of liberty stipulated by
the law of the transferring state; (Forlife sentences, he has to serve 8 years
and for other sentences, he has toserve 4 years)
6. The judgment is final and no further
legal proceeding relating to theoffense or any offense is pending in
the transferring state;
7. The transferring and receiving states
and the offender all agree to thetransfer. In transfering the prisoner,
all expenses will be met by thereceiving state.

115TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
C. Problem of Prisoner Transfer
Treaties
There are many advantages of prisonertransfer treaties. First, they facilitate thesocial reintegration of the prisoner bypermitting persons convicted of a crime in
one country to return to complete theirsentence in their familiar living andcultural conditions. Prisoner transfer
treaties also remove an economic andadministrative burden for prisons in many
countries. Taking care of foreign prisoners
causes a lot of prison administration
problems in term of communication withprisoners and provision of food and medicalcare. Prisoner transfer treaties, however,
have some difficulties in implementing.
This is due to the difference between thelaw and penal sanctions of the participatedcountries. Some sentencing states, forexample, may have severe punishment for
drug offences while the administering state
has less severe punishments. In suchcases, prisoners may be transferred toadministering countries just simply to bereleased earlier because the receiving stateis empowered to enforce the rest of thesentence according to its law. For example,
a prisoner in the U.S.A. will be eligible forparole after 1/3 of his sentence has been
served while in Thailand he has to serve
2/3 of his sentence. In another case,prisoners were transferred to convert thesentence term in court of the administeringcountries. The Council of Europe suggeststhat if the sentence imposed was longer
than or different in nature from thesentence which could be imposed for thesame offence in the home country, it would
be adapted to the nearest equivalentsentence which was available under thelaw in the home country without being
longer or more severe than the original
sentence. Two potential difficulties can beseen with this approach. Firstly, theforeign prisoner will not know the lengthof his sentence until transfer and therefore
may find it difficult to decide whether or

not to apply. Secondly, it is probable thatin some cases the period already served in
the foreign country will be equal to or
greater than the converted sentence in thehome country with the result that thetransferred prisoner would be immediately
released. This is likely to undermine
confidence in the integrity of the transfer
scheme and may even be seen as
interfering with, or criticising, the criminal
justice system of another country.6 While
there are some difficulties related to theimplementation of the treaties, prisonertransfer treaties bring about international
cooperation and understanding and should
be promoted to expand to countries
worldwide.
Bibliography
1. Australian Institute of Criminology,
Trends and Issues in Crime andCriminal Justice, Canberra, 1992.
2. Home Office, The Sentence of the
Court: A Handbook of Courts on theTreatment of Offenders, (Her Majesty’s
Stationary Office, London, 1978)
3. Norman A. Carlson, Karen M. Hess andChristine M.H. Orthman, Correctionsin the 21 st Century: A Practical
Approach, (An International Thomson
Publishing Company, U.S.A., 1999)
4. P. Nacci. H. Teitelbeaum and J. Prather,
Violence in Federal Prisons: The Effectof Population Density on Misconduct,(National Institute of Justice, U.S.A.,1997)
5. Q. Mccain, V.C. Cox and P. Paneus,
Effect of Prison Overcrowding on
Inmate Behavior, (University of Texas,
1980)
6. Richard D. Atkins (ed.), Prisoner
Transfer Treaties: A Practical Guide,(International Defense Counsel,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,
1955)
6

Australian Institute of Criminology, Trends andIssues in Crime and Criminal Justice, Canberra,
1992 p.p. 3-4

323