WORKSHOP REPORTREPORT OF COMMITTEE I: WORKSHOP I
Role of the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention andcriminal justice in support of effective, fair, humane and accountable criminal
justice systems: experiences and lessons learned in meeting the unique needs ofwomen and children, in particular the treatment and social reintegration ofoffenders
Proceedings
1. At its 1st meeting, on 12 April 2015, the Thirteenth Congress elected by acclamation
Roberto Rafael Campa Cifrián (Mexico) as Chair of Committee I. At its 1st meeting, on13 April 2015, Committee I elected by acclamation Mark Rutgers van der Loeff(Netherlands) as Vice-Chair and Jeanne Mrad (Lebanon) as Rapporteur.
2. At its 1st to 3rd meetings, on 13 and 14 April 2015, Committee I held a general
discussion on agenda item 3, entitled “Successes and challenges in implementing
comprehensive crime prevention and criminal justice policies and strategies to promote
the rule of law at the national and international levels, and to support sustainabledevelopment”. For its consideration of the item, the Committee had before it thefollowing documents:(a) Background paper on workshop 1, on the role of the United Nations standards andnorms in crime prevention and criminal justice in support of effective, fair, humaneand accountable criminal justice systems: experiences and lessons learned inmeeting the unique needs of women and children, in particular the treatment andsocial reintegration of offenders (A/CONF.222/10);(b) Discussion guide (A/CONF.222/PM.1);(c) Reports of the regional preparatory meetings for the Thirteenth Congress(A/CONF.222/RPM.1/1, A/CONF.222/RPM.2/1, A/CONF.222/RPM.3/1 andA/CONF.222/RPM.4/1).
3. The workshop was moderated by Yvon Dandurand, fellow and senior associate at theInternational Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy. Keynote
speeches were delivered by Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand, and by Marta
Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against
Children, via recorded video message. Presentations were made by the following
panellists: Haitham Shibli, Penal Reform International; Kittipong Kittayarak, Thailand
Institute of Justice; Maria Noel Rodriguez, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC); Uju Agomoh, Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action of Nigeria; Kelly- 167 -Blanchette, Mental Health Branch, Correctional Service Canada; Sandra Fernández,
Regional Penitentiary Academy, Office of the Attorney General of the Dominican
Republic; Sara Robinson, National Probation Service of the United Kingdom; Masako
Natori, Ministry of Justice of Japan; Alexandra Martins, UNODC; Zhao Bingzhi,
Beijing Normal University; Carlos Tiffer, Latin American Institute for the Prevention ofCrime and the Treatment of Offenders; Horace Chacha, Shikusa Borstal Institution,
Kenyan Prisons Service; Christian Ranheim, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of HumanRights and Humanitarian Law; and Mohammed Hassan Al Sarra, Naif Arab University
for Security Sciences.
4. The 1st and 3rd meetings, on 13 and 14 April, were chaired by Roberto RafaelCampa Cifrián (Mexico), and the 2nd meeting, on 13 April, was chaired by MarkRutgers van der Loeff (Netherlands).
5. At the 1st meeting, introductory remarks were made by a representative of theSecretariat, the Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights andHumanitarian Law and the Director of the United Nations Asia and Far East Institutefor the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders.
6. At the 2nd meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the United States,
Azerbaijan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Paraguay, Pakistan,Indonesia and South Africa. Statements were also made by the observers for Quaker
United Nations Office and Penal Reform International, as well as by two individual
experts.
7. At the 3rd meeting, statements were made by the representatives of Slovenia, Canada,Thailand, the United States, Mauritania and Spain. The observer for the European
Union also made a statement.
General discussion
8. The keynote speaker, opening the panel discussion on “Women: treatment ofoffenders, rehabilitation and social reintegration”, recalled the various United Nations
standards and norms developed through the years, particularly those related to thetreatment of prisoners, and recent international developments in promoting thefundamental rights of women prisoners, including the adoption of the United Nations
Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women
Offenders (the Bangkok Rules). Reference was made to the current status of theimplementation of those standards at the national level, and it was noted that the statusof implementation varied from one country to another. The importance of fair, humaneand gender-sensitive treatment for the rehabilitation of women prisoners and offenders
for their successful reintegration into the community was also highlighted.
9. The first panellist presented the results of surveys undertaken by Penal Reform
International in a number of countries on the characteristics of women prisoners andwomen offenders and the impact of imprisonment on women. Reference was made to aseries of technical assistance tools developed to assist countries in implementing anintegrated approach to meet the needs of women offenders and prisoners. The second- 168 -panellist illustrated the impact of imprisonment on incarcerated mothers and theirchildren and presented the experience of Thailand in enhancing mother-child relations,medical care and living conditions for pregnant women, nursing mothers, women withchildren in prison and foreign women prisoners. He emphasized the need for developing
gender-sensitive national laws and policies and promoting human-rights-based
correctional practices, as well as for ensuring support from the public for penal policies
related to women prisoners and women offenders. The panel then heard about theprogress made in Latin America in implementing the Bangkok Rules. Examples ofgender-sensitive policies and practices from different countries in that region wereprovided. The fourth panelist analysed the situation of women in prison or pretrial
detention in Africa, highlighting practical measures to improve the treatment andprotection of women prisoners in developing countries. In the fifth presentation,experiences from the federal correctional system of Canada in the treatment of women
prisoners and offenders were presented, including gender-responsive and tailoredpolicies and programmes based on gender-specific assessments, gender-responsive
staffing models and redesigned prison infrastructure, as well as correctional and social
programming and mental health treatment for women. The prison management modelof the Dominican Republic was then presented, in particular its special programmes forthe treatment of women prisoners and for the preparation for the reintegration of women
prisoners into society. The panel also heard about experiences from the probation
services of England and Wales in the supervision of women offenders in the community,
where a number of gender-sensitive and women-specific offender management andsocial reintegration services were available, based on a multiagency approach. The final
presentation illustrated the situation of women offenders, women’s prisons and female
prison officers in Japan, along with measures taken to address the increased number offemale inmates, secure the stable employment of female prison officers, build theircapacity and improve their working environment.
10. During the discussion, several speakers reflected on the situation of women in
prisons in different parts of the world and the challenges they faced in that regard, anddetailed their respective national experiences in dealing with women prisoners andoffenders. It was recognized that the number of women in prisons was increasing at ahigher rate than the population of male prisoners was. The unique situation of older
women in prisons, as well as of prisoners with disabilities, was highlighted. It was notedthat women were in prison mostly for offences related to drug trafficking and minor
offences and that many had a history of victimization, especially violence. In that regard,a project developed by the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control,
affiliated with the United Nations, addressing women in prison who had experienced
childhood, intimate partner or other forms of physical and sexual violence, wasmentioned. Participants listed challenges related to women in prison and, in that respect,
mention was made of the difficulties of women with children in maintaining
relationships with their children, which increased their suffering and had a major impact
on the children. Participants agreed women, and emphasized that a holistic approach
was needed, combined with a strategy that involved all relevant stakeholders, including
communities. Participants shared best practices and agreed that gender-specificrehabilitation and reintegration programmes had a greater impact on women, and thatsuch programmes needed to be evidence-based and adjusted to the specific needs of- 169 -women, based on assessment and ongoing data collection. Others highlighted theimportance of the transparency and openness of prisons, combined with monitoring toensure that rights were respected. Success stories could be shared on how the use of themedia could be beneficial with regard to changing the stigma still faced by women
prisoners.
11. The panel on “Children: treatment of offenders, rehabilitation and socialreintegration” was opened by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on
Violence against Children, who delivered a keynote speech via video link. She recalled
the most relevant standards and norms related to children in conflict with the law andnoted how there was still a serious governance gap between the normative frameworks
that such instruments provided and their implementation. She also referred to thesituation of children living in violent contexts, children with mental health problems
deprived of their liberty and girls deprived of their liberty, underlining the importanceof the recently adopted United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on theElimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice 1 in protecting the rights of such children.
12. The first presentation focused on the provisions contained in the Model Strategies
and Practical Measures and the work of UNODC to support the implementation of thatnew instrument, including the joint UNODC-UNICEF Global Programme on Violenceagainst Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Recent activities
to assist countries in implementing the Model Strategies and Practical Measures, and inparticular the UNODC checklist to facilitate assessments and measures to bring justicesystems into compliance with the new legal instrument, were the focus of the second
presentation. The panel then heard about the initiatives undertaken by China in dealing
with children in conflict with the law, which stressed the role of family, school andsocial organizations and the reforming of relevant laws, policies and practices based oninternational instruments and standards. The focus of the fourth presentation was on
good practices concerning alternatives to judicial proceedings from the Costa Rican
juvenile justice system, including remission, plea bargains, dismissals and the closing ofcase files, reconciliation processes, suspension of proceedings and redress for damages.
The fifth panellist illustrated the experiences of Kenya in dealing with children in
conflict with the law, in particular the Shikusa Borstal Institution, which provided
programmes to ensure that offenders were prepared for a crime-free life upon releaseand to allow their smooth reintegration into the community. During the panel, thefindings of a recent baseline study on juvenile justice systems conducted by the Raoul
Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations region were shared. The study identified common trends, bestpractices and main challenges throughout the region regarding treatment, rehabilitationand social reintegration of juvenile offenders. The seventh presentation focused on theexperience of Saudi Arabia with regard to the rehabilitation and social reintegration ofchildren in conflict with the law into the community, analysing the risk factors forchildren coming into conflict with the law and then presenting an overview of thedifferent mechanisms available to the community for care and rehabilitation. The final
1General Assembly resolution 69/194.

- 170 -presentation, focusing on the treatment of young female offenders, illustrated thephilosophy of the Swedish prison system of using prison as a last resort for that type ofoffender, an approach that was one of the most effective measures for facilitating
rehabilitation and social reintegration.
13. A representative of the Secretariat provided an update on the revision of thestandard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners that had been mandated by theGeneral Assembly in 2010.
14. During the discussion, there was broad agreement among participants on the highvalue of the United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Eliminationof Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice as apowerful tool for Member States to protect the rights of children in contact with thejustice system and to effectively prevent and respond to incidents of violence. One
speaker commended UNODC for having developed, with the United Nations Children’sFund (UNICEF), a global programme on violence against children in the field of crime
prevention and criminal justice, and encouraged Member States to provide funding.
Delegates referred to progress achieved to date by national Governments in promoting
the rights of children in contact with the law and protecting them from violence. Several
speakers expressed support for the outcome of the revision process of the United
Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which had been
finalized by the Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting at its fourth meeting, held inCape Town, South Africa, in March 2015, and recommended the revised set of Rulesfor endorsement by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its
twenty-fourth session.
Conclusions
15. The conclusions of the discussions, as summarized by the moderator on behalfof the Chair, are as follows:(a) Member States should adopt or amend legislation, policies and measures for women
offenders and children in conflict with the law in line with relevant United Nations
standards and norms and provide adequate funding for their implementation;(b) Member States are invited to mainstream a gender perspective into criminal justicesystems with programmes that take into account the histories of women offenders,
including victimization history and related mental health issues;(c) Member States are encouraged to review relevant national legislation, policies,procedures and practices to effectively prevent and respond to violence againstchildren who are alleged offenders or victims or witnesses of crime;(d) To improve the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in preventing andresponding to serious forms of violence against children, the complementary rolesof the justice system and the child protection, social welfare, health and education
sectors should be recognized;- 171 -(e) Member States should promote the use of alternative measures to judicial
proceedings both for women and children. The principle that deprivation of libertyof children should only be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest
appropriate period of time should be respected. Likewise, whenever possible, theuse of pretrial detention for children should be avoided;(f) Member States should develop gender-specific health care within prisons, taking
into account sexually transmitted diseases; mental health-care needs, including riskof suicide and self-harm; pregnancies and related reproductive health issues; theexistence of drug dependency; and sexual abuse and other forms of violence;(g) Proper measures should be in place to address the specific needs of children
deprived of their liberty, in particular as relates to health-care services and hygiene;(h) Member States are invited to develop and implement trauma-informed programmes
and interventions for women prisoners and children in conflict with the law;(i) Member States should minimize the use of imprisonment for pregnant women andmothers with young children. If imprisonment is unavoidable, services such asnurseries, mother-child units, nursing care and formal education for the children ofwomen prisoners should be provided, and cooperation with relevant organizations,including non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the community,should be encouraged;(j) UNODC, in cooperation with UNICEF and the Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is invited to develop guidance forcountries on how to determine and interpret the best interests of the children ofincarcerated mothers;(k) Member States should develop gender-specific rehabilitation and reintegration
treatment programmes, both in institutions and in the community, including during
the aftercare phase, taking into account the special treatment needs of women, suchas substance abuse, lack of adequate education, and victimization history;(l) Member States should provide support, programmes and services for children
deprived of their liberty prior to and after release in order to promote theirrehabilitation and reintegration into the community;(m) Rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for women prisoners and children
deprived of their liberty should be implemented in coordination with relevant
non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the community;(n) Member States should develop policy guidance on how to deal with women
offenders from minority groups, including foreign nationals and indigenous women;(o) Member States should strengthen the use of evidenced-based research in theimplementation of strategies related to women offenders and children in conflict- 172 -

with the law. In particular, Member States are encouraged to incorporate gendervariables into their criminal justice statistics and develop case management
databases with gender-specific data. Furthermore, they are invited to develop asystem for collecting and reporting juvenile justice data and statistics, in particularon the status of children deprived of their liberty, and to contribute to theundertaking of an in-depth global study on children deprived of liberty, in line with
General Assembly resolution 69/157;(p) Member States should raise awareness of and disseminate relevant international
instruments and standards and norms, including the Bangkok Rules and the Model
Strategies and Practical Measures, to all relevant criminal justice officials,
non-governmental organizations and the community;(q) In view of the importance of public support and participation in the development ofpenal policies, strategies and programmes related to women prisoners and children
in conflict with the law, efforts should be made to ensure such support andparticipation;(r) Member States are encouraged to strengthen their training and capacity-building
activities for criminal justice personnel based on relevant international instruments
and standards and norms;(s) Member States should design effective national strategies for the promotion offemale corrections officers to leadership and managerial roles in the treatment ofwomen offenders;(t) Member States should promote the sharing of good practices in the treatment andsocial reintegration of women offenders and children in conflict with the law at theregional and international levels;(u) UNODC should continue providing assistance and support to countries, uponrequest, to implement the Bangkok Rules and the Model Strategies and PracticalMeasures. Member States are invited to make full use of the tools developed byUNODC;(v) Member States are encouraged to provide financial and other resources to strengthen
the technical assistance capacity of UNODC to address the needs of women
prisoners and offenders, as well as to protect all children who are in contact with thejustice system from violence, including through the implementation of theUNODC-UNICEF Global Programme on Violence against Children in the Field ofCrime Prevention and Criminal Justice;(w) The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is invited to endorse therevision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, inaccordance with existing mandates, with a view towards the final adoption of therevised set of rules by the General Assembly.

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