Labouring behind bars

Assessing international law on working prisoners

A briefing paper on the international legal framework for regulating prison work and prison labour
news
briefing paper
Authors
Affiliation

Ben Jarman

Birkbeck, University of London

Catherine Heard

Birkbeck, University of London

Published

2023-11-09

Abstract

This briefing paper explores work in prison through the lens of international human rights law. This is the first of a series of publications in the project ‘Unlocking potential: towards effective, sustainable, and ethical provision of work opportunities for prisoners and prison leavers’. The briefing—along with a detailed Appendix—assesses and critiques the applicable law and highlights the outdated nature of key binding norms governing prison work. It also identifies gaps between claimed benefits and actual prisoner work conditions. It assesses the existing international legal framework, revealing conceptual gaps and inconsistencies across standards. These gaps, we suggest, may result in prisoners being exploited in ways unforeseen by the framers of international laws.

Keywords

forced labour conventions, human rights, international human rights standards, international prison research, labour rights, prison labour, work in prison

Availability

Available at https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/53811.

Reuse

All rights reserved.

Citation

BibTeX citation:
@report{jarmanLabouringBarsAssessing2023,
  author = {Jarman, Ben and Heard, Catherine},
  publisher = {Institute for Crime \& Justice Policy Research},
  title = {Labouring Behind Bars: Assessing International Law on Working
    Prisoners},
  series = {Unlocking potential},
  pages = {43},
  date = {2023-11-09},
  address = {London},
  url = {https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/53811},
  langid = {en-GB},
  abstract = {This briefing paper explores work in prison through the
    lens of international human rights law. This is the first of a
    series of publications in the project “Unlocking potential: towards
    effective, sustainable, and ethical provision of work opportunities
    for prisoners and prison leavers”. The briefing—along with a
    detailed Appendix—assesses and critiques the applicable law and
    highlights the outdated nature of key binding norms governing prison
    work. It also identifies gaps between claimed benefits and actual
    prisoner work conditions. It assesses the existing international
    legal framework, revealing conceptual gaps and inconsistencies
    across standards. These gaps, we suggest, may result in prisoners
    being exploited in ways unforeseen by the framers of international
    laws.}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Jarman, B., & Heard, C. (2023). Labouring behind bars: assessing international law on working prisoners (Briefing paper), London: Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research. Retrieved from https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/53811