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Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

Definition

The original 1955 instrument on prison conditions, adopted at the First UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders and later approved by the Economic and Social Council; superseded by the Nelson Mandela Rules in 2015.

Related terms

Nelson Mandela Rules
The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, revised and renamed by the UN General Assembly in December 2015,...
Non-Custodial Measures
Sentences or pre-trial measures that do not involve imprisonment, such as probation, community service, suspended sentences, fines and diversion, the subject of...
Soft Law
A standard adopted by an international body, such as a General Assembly resolution, that carries persuasive and interpretive weight but is not...
Solitary Confinement
The confinement of a prisoner for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact; the Nelson Mandela Rules cap it...
Tokyo Rules
The UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 45/110 in 1990, setting safeguards for probation, community...

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