What's new at the World Prison Brief
Welcome to the News section of the World Prison Brief, where the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research delivers timely updates on urgent prison-related developments around the globe. From data-driven insights into prison labour and sentencing reforms to global prison population trends and gender disparities, this page brings you the latest briefings, evidence submissions, and expert commentary shaping policy and public debate
On 23 March 2026, at the margin of the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, ICPR and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights held a side event on the topic of Human Rights Compliant Alternative Measures to Pre-Trial Detention.
Prison population data reveal a much faster growth in female than male prisoner numbers since…
ICPR is delighted that the third edition of our key publication A Human Rights Approach to Prison…
Birkbeck’s annual Public Engagement Awards recognise and celebrate researchers who have…
As the Commonwealth heads of government meet in Kigali, Catherine Heard, Director of the World…
Dr Sarah Lamble is a Reader in Criminology and Queer Theory at the School of Law, Birkbeck and…
ICPR annual lecture, 18 January 2022, 16.00 GMT (online, open to all): registration is now…
Some 11.5 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world, according to the…
What explains the world’s rising prisoner numbers? Does prison overcrowding impact public health?…
