Prison conditionsĮxcessive pre-trial detention leads to overcrowding and declining conditions in prison. Pre-trial detention can be used as a tool to exert pressure, and will undermine how voluntary someone’s consent is to waiving their rights, ultimately undermining the fairness of the proceedings. It can lead some people to plead guilty even if they are innocent just to get out of detention as soon as possible.
DEFINE UNDERMINE SOMEONE TRIAL
Putting someone in prison before their trial puts pressure on them to waive their rights, including their right to a trial. When sentencing, judges may also feel the need to retrospectively justify the decision to hold someone in pre-trial, and may therefore be more likely to give a custodial sentence. Prison has a physical, mental and emotional impact on an individual, which in turn can have a negative effect on how they are perceived by a judge or jury.
Unfair outcomesīeing held in pre-trial detention can affect how a judge or jury perceives someone and this can have an impact on the outcome of a case. In 2020, 50% of Black defendants were remanded in custody in England and Wales, compared to 40% of white defendants. In the UK, a disproportionate number of people who are Black, Asian and from other racially minoritised groups are held on remand. In many EU Member States, foreign nationals who are accused of a crime can be routinely held in prison because they are perceived to be a flight risk even if there is no evidence that this is the case. Pre-trial detention reflects and reinforces discrimination and racism within criminal justice systems as there are often disparities in who is detained and who is released on bail. Detained people are separated from their family and friends, at risk of losing their job and home, and can have their reputation ruined. It is one of the harshest actions that a state can take against someone and can have devastating consequences. Pre-trial detention restricts the right to the presumption of innocence and the right to liberty. Pre-trial detention, also known as remand or preventative detention, is when someone is detained by the state while they are waiting for a trial to determine whether they are innocent or guilty of a crime. Fair Trials campaigns for states to use pre-trial detention only as a last resort and for people to be detained for as short a time as possible before a trial. Many have been detained for months, or even years, even though they have not been convicted of a crime. Right now, over three million people around the world are being held in prison while they wait for a trial.
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