About us
EPLN is the leading European network of civil society organisations defending the rights of people deprived of their liberty. Founded by lawyers, former prisoners and researchers, we are a grassroots initiative dedicated to strengthening legal protections for fundamental rights behind bars and reducing the use of incarceration. The network brings together over 30 associations from 20 European countries.
We work at the European level to remove barriers to prisoners’ access to justice and to strengthen effective judicial responses to the structural problems affecting prison systems across Europe. Our activities combine coordinated strategic litigation campaigns with advocacy aimed at advancing human rights standards. Through research projects conducted in partnership with leading European research institutions - such as the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and universities in Brussels (ULB), Madrid (Complutense), Florence etc.. - we are also dedicated to produce robust evidence-based knowledge that supports civil society organisations in litigation and policy advocacy.
Our mission
EPLN is a peer-to-peer network for exchange and collective action of civil society actors engaged in the protection of prisoners’ rights. The strategic priorities of the network are defined by our members – lawyers, former prisoners, academics and civil society activists. Our horizontal governance model enables us to collectively identify common challenges and emerging trends in criminal and penitentiary policies that require coordinated responses.
To support prison law practitioners and civil society organisations in their advocacy and strategic litigation, EPLN produces legal resources on prison law developments across 15 European countries and relevant European case law. We also monitor the work of international standard-setting bodies in the prison field and ensure civil society perspectives are represented in international debates.
EPLN also functions as a support and solidarity network. The EPLN Secretariat provides practical support to members and partners in preparing litigation at national and European levels, and contributes to capacity-building efforts, particularly in relation to proceedings before the ECtHR and UN human rights bodies.
In times of crisis, we also support prisoners' rights defenders at risk. Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we supported the relocation and protection of 13 civil society organisations and 89 human rights defenders in Ukraine, in cooperation with our partner the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.
Timeline
2013
Prisoners, law practitioners, researchers and civil society activists found the European Prison Litigation Network
2015
In the context of the Brussels conference on the future of the European Court of Human Rights, EPLN along with 44 NGOs call on Council of Europe Member States to address structural problems in prisons
2016
EPLN organises the first conference on prisoners’ rights at the European Court of Human Rights, “The Protection of Prisoners’ Rights in Europe”. Proceedings were published in 2017 in La Revue des Droits de l’Homme, no. 14
2017
EPLN is granted participatory status with the Council of Europe
2018
EPLN organises a second conference on prisoners’ rights at the European Court of Human Rights, chaired by the Court’s President, G. Raimondi, “Overcoming obstacles to the access of detained persons to rights and the judge: European perspectives”.
2019
Building on research and advocacy initiatives on the procedural rights of prisoners by EPLN and its partners, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) dedicates in 2019 the European Lawyers Day to the issue of prisoners’ access to a lawyer and to legal aid. On this occasion, EPLN members have mobilised to organise events in Berlin, Rome and Brussels
2020
EPLN initiates a joint appeal with 60 European NGOs calling on international organisations to take urgent action in response to the Covid-19 outbreak in prisons
2022
In response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, EPLN increases support to its Ukrainian partners and starts documenting war crimes on Ukrainian prisoners for the initiation of a judicial response commensurate with the crimes committed
2023
EPLN celebrates its ten years of collective action of former prisoners, associations, academics, lawyers and prison doctors for the protection of fundamental rights of prisoners.
How we work
Advocacy
Litigation
Research
By mobilising knowledge and field expertise from former detainees, NGOs, academics, lawyers and prison doctors, EPLN initiates and coordinates collective actions on crucial issues from the perspective of prisoners’ fundamental rights to impact the course of prison and penal policies at domestic and European level.
We analyse and follow up on main prison and penal policy developments at European and international levels and strive to enhance civil society participation in these processes.
Together with our members and partners, we conduct strategic litigation before domestic, European and international courts to defend and advance prisoners’ rights in crucial areas.
We also support lawyers, civil society organisations and prisoners who litigate for prisoners’ rights by providing legal resources, carrying out capacity-building activities and cooperating with bar associations.
Thanks to continuous cooperation with research centers and universities, we produce and circulate analysis and knowledge on European and national prison law, and research the determinants of and obstacles to effective access to rights in detention.
This enables us to keep a critical eye on prison reforms, which are sometimes devoid of any real effect, and perpetuate the arbitrary nature of prison in a more acceptable guise.
We also scrutinise the evolution of criminal policies, in particular the length of sentences and sociodemographic categories of incarcerated people, in order to address fundamental rights in detention through the inextricable question of the social functions of prison.
