Rehabilitation As A Penal And Prison Policy In The Context Of The European Convention On Human Rights

Year 2025, Volume: 83 Issue: 4, 1572 - 1583, 16.01.2026

Uğur Aşkın , Abdurrahman Goren

https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2025.83.4.0012

https://izlik.org/JA59YN33CN

Abstract

In recent years, penal systems around the world have experienced a paradigm shift, emphasizing the importance of rehabilitation as a fundamental principle of prison and jail policy. It is necessary to explore the evolution of rehabilitation within the criminal justice system and its decisive role in promoting the reintegration of offenders into society. In the context of criminal law, rehabilitation is the removal of a prisoner's desire to commit a crime. By addressing the underlying causes of criminal behavior and providing offenders with education, vocational training and therapeutic interventions, rehabilitation programs aim to facilitate long-term behavioral change and social reintegration. Our study argues that rehabilitation should be the premise of penal and prison management policy. In this context, the issue will be explained in the first part in the context of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and in the second part according to Article 8 of the Convention. In the last part, the meaning and function of rehabilitation will be emphasized. Sending criminals to prison to punish them is also perceived as an additional punishment that can torture them and create inhumane and degrading punishment. Therefore, it is essential to rehabilitate an offender and try to reintegrate him/her into society.

Keywords

Rehabilitation , crime , penal system , prison policy , human rights

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