Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 03, 2019 (HMP): Commissioner of Corrections Terrance James recently returned from Uruguay where he participated in a two-day Bi-Regional High Level Conference on the use of Alternative Measures to Imprisonment.
The conference was held on September 19 and 20, 2019, at the Radisson Hotel in Montevideo. It was sponsored by the European Union. Commissioner James was among some 150 representatives from more than 30 countries from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The aim of the event was to reflect on the management of criminal, correctional and reintegration policies, to present measures alternative to deprivation of liberty and to raise awareness of the advantages offered by novel and effective proposals in judicial, economic, social and political terms for all countries. Topics covered included the cost-effectiveness of alternative sentencing, reasons for prison overcrowding, the advantages and disadvantages of alternative sentencing, educating the public on alternative sentencing, and protecting vulnerable groups in the prison.
This conference was timely as rehabilitation and prison restructuring are among areas of priority on the agenda of the Corrections Commissioner going forward.
