EPLN addresses prison violence by documenting and alerting on cases of torture and ill-treatment and defending the victims before domestic and international courts. To tackle the root causes of prison violence, we also analyse the characteristics of the prison environment that create structural conditions for violence.

Based on our research, we advocate the application of legal guarantees of ordinary law to detainees, strict control of the power of the prison administration, and a reduction in the use of incarceration and the length of sentences.

We litigate for the application of the guarantees of the principles of proportionality and non-arbitrariness to sentence adjustment procedures.

S.P. and Others v. Russia : informal prison hierarchy undermines detainees’ dignity in breach of Article 3 of the ECHR