Inspectors and ombudsmen regularly go to prisons and publish reports on what they find and what they think needs to be improved. They also complete reports on issues such as access to healthcare or the use of segregation.

In recent years, regressive reform of parole laws in many places has made it increasingly difficult for people in prison to access parole.

With people in prisons across the country being subjected to an “epidemic of prison lockdowns”, it is important to note that bare minimum safeguards exist in law, in most jurisdictions, that purport to guarantee at least some time ‘in the open air’ each day for people behind bars.

There is a lot of talk about human rights in prison – with things like ‘the Mandela Rules’, ‘the principle of equivalence’, and access to health care without discrimination.