The revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) Short guide

The revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules)
were adopted unanimously in December 2015 by the UN General Assembly and set out the minimum
standards for good prison management, including to ensure the rights of prisoners are respected.
The Nelson Mandela Rules are not entirely new, but an updated version of the 1955 Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs). The Rules were revised in eight substantive areas to reflect standards that have emerged in correctional science and human rights since 1955. In 2010, a UN General Assembly resolution mandated an Inter-governmental Expert Group to revise the Rules. Member states agreed on the process and revisions, and UN bodies, intergovernmental organisations, civil society and academics participated in the process. The Expert Group first met in 2011 and decided on a so-called ‘targeted revision’, updating the most outdated areas and rules, but leaving the structure and many rules unchanged. Revised text was negotiated at three subsequent meetings. The Nelson Mandela Rules have also been renumbered given the substantial changes. The revision process has consolidated criminal justice and human rights standards in one document – protecting the rights of prisoners, and also providing reliable and up-to-date guidance for prison staff and administrations

The revision process

Why were the Rules revised?

Who made the revisions?

Applying the Nelson Mandela Rules from admission to release

Admission to prison

Classification and accommodating special needs

Prison staff

Files and records

Accommodating prisoners

Discipline and sanctions

Contact with the outside world

Day-to-day activities

Physical and mental health

Inspections and investigations

Transfer and transport

Release from prison

What now?

Penal Reform International (PRI)

PRI  (2016). Short guide to the revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules). Penal Reform International  PRI_Nelson_Mandela_Rules_Short_Guide_WEB.pdf (penalreform.org)