In the European context, in the field of human rights and prisons, the Council of Europe (CoE) has made great strides in the advancement of prisoners’ human rights in terms of recognition and protection. It has achieved this primarily through the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and its enforcement organ, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (ECtHR). The ECHR is not a prison treaty, but prisoners have invoked its provisions numerous times and with success (van Zyl Smit and Snacken 2009). For example, based on the latest ECtHR historical review of its activity, between 1959 and 2009, Article 6 violations (right to fair trial) featured in 47.47% of the ECtHR judgments and Article 5 violations (right to liberty and security) in 10.72% of the judgments (ECtHR 2010).