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Europe in Prisons pp 135–171Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee and Prisons in Austria

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

Abstract

This chapter analyses the topics on which the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has focused during its six visits to Austria. The CPT’s recommendations that relate to prison institutions as well as the Austrian government’s reactions towards the recommendations will be discussed. Furthermore, the chapter describes the creation and operation of the Human Rights Advisory Board which was competent among other subjects to deal with institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior where human beings were deprived of their liberty. In the context of the Human Rights Advisory Board, six independent Commissions had been created which were modelled after the CPT and which monitored the implementation of HR standards in all of these institutions. The current system which continued this model in an adapted form under the responsibility of the Austrian Ombudsman office is also being described.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ETS No. 126. Text amended according to the provisions of Protocols No. 1 (ETS No. 151) and No. 2 (ETS No. 152) which entered into force on 1 March 2002; for publications on the Convention, see, for example, Murdoch (2006), Morgan and Evans (2002), Kriebaum (2000, 2002), Evans and Morgan (1992, 1997, 1998), Evans (2002), Harris (2002), Association for the Prevention of Torture, Council of Europe and Geneva Police Service (1999), Kicker (2008), Council of Europe (2010), Myjer (2010). The Committee is also referred to as the Council of Europe anti-torture Committee.

  2. 2.

    The CPT decided the programme for the first round of periodic missions by lot to underline its impartiality (see 1st General Report CPT/Inf(91)3, paras. 19 and 52; Cassese (1994: 117)).

  3. 3.

    The chapter follows the distinction of the CPT in institutions administered by the Ministry of Justice and institutions administered by the Ministry of Interior. Only prisons administered by the Ministry of Justice are taken into consideration.

  4. 4.

    CPT/Inf (96)10, paras 117-119; CPT/Inf (2001)8, paras. 95, 97, 101; CPT/Inf (2005) 13, paras. 93, 95; CPT/Inf (2010) 5, paras. 92, 94; CPT/Inf (2015) 34, para. 79.

  5. 5.

    A net bed is similar to a cage bed, but instead of metal bars around the side and top of the bed, a net bed has netting, similar to the material used for fishing nets or rope.

  6. 6.

    CPT/Inf (91) 10, para 38; CPT/Inf (96) 10, para 138; CPT/Inf (2005) 13, para 108; CPT/Inf (2010) 5, paras 110, 111; CPT/Inf (2015) 34, para 90.

  7. 7.

    CPT/Inf (2005) 13, para 108; CPT/Inf (2010) 5, para 110; CPT/Inf (2010) 5, para 110.

  8. 8.

    CPT/Inf (2001) 8, paras 122, 123; CPT/Inf (2005) 13, paras 109, 142; CPT/Inf (2010) 5, para 114; CPT/Inf (2015) 34, p. 8, see also para 97.

  9. 9.

    §58 Jugendgerichtsgesetz (Juvenile Court Law) (9) Federal Law Gazette 599/1988 as amended by Federal Law Gazette I No. 154/2015.

  10. 10.

    Federal Law Gazette No. 144/1969 as amended by Federal Law Gazette I No. 26/2016: §107 (1).

  11. 11.

    §15a(2) SPG. The Federal Minister of the Interior appointed all the members and substitute members of the Council. Three of the members and their substitutes were selected directly by the Minister of the Interior. Five NGOs which may nominate members were selected by the Minister of the Interior as well. The rest of the members and their substitutes were nominated by ministries which are closely related with the subject under consideration. The members were appointed for a period of three years and acted on a voluntary basis. (§15b(1) SPG).

  12. 12.

    Art. 148a B-VG (2). The ombudsman board is ex officio entitled to investigate its suspicion of maladministration by the Federation including its activity as a holder of private rights, mainly of violations of human rights it assumes.

    (3) For the protection and the advancement of human rights, it is incumbent on the Ombudsman Board and the Commissions appointed by it (Art. 148 h para 3) in the area of the administration of the Federation including its activity as holder of private rights

    1. to visit and inspect the location of deprivation of liberty,

    2. to watch and check in advisory manner the conduct of the organs authorised to exert direct administrative power and compulsions as well as

    3. to check respectively visit certain institutions and programmes for handicapped persons.

  13. 13.

    §12(1) Volksanwaltschaftsgesetz determines that there have to be six Commissions and together they have to consist of at least 42 members (BGBl. Nr. 433/1982 idF BGBl I Nr. 1/2012).

  14. 14.

    On the new Human Rights Advisory Council, see Vogl (2013).

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  1. University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Ursula Kriebaum

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  1. Ursula Kriebaum
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  1. Leuven Institute of Criminology (LINC) KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Tom Daems

  2. National Institute of Forensic Sciences and Criminology (NICC), Brussels, Belgium

    Luc Robert

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Kriebaum, U. (2017). Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee and Prisons in Austria. In: Daems, T., Robert, L. (eds) Europe in Prisons. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62250-7_6

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