Punishment and denial

In recent years, criminologists have increasingly become interested in how penal policy comes to be shaped ‘from above’. But what has been the impact of such processes of Europeanisation on penal policy making in member states? European institutions function on the assumption that member States support their activities and share the same objective but why, then, are findings sometimes contested and recommendations neglected? Why is there not more compliance? In this research project we aim to contribute to advancing the comparative criminological research agenda by focusing on the interactions between European institutions (that is, the European Court of Human Rights and the European anti-torture committee (CPT)) and domestic actors in the area of prison policy in two jurisdictions, that is, Belgium and England and Wales.