While recognizing that States enjoy a wide margin of discretion in the choice of their penal policies, the right to liberty of persons in article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires that States should have recourse to deprivation of liberty only insofar as it is necessary to meet a pressing societal need, and in a manner proportionate to that need (E/CN.4/2006/7, para. 63). In a previous report (E/CN.4/2006/7) in 2006, the Working Group noted with concern the practice of over-incarceration in the context of pretrial detention, as well as the factors that lead to over-incarceration, including detainees’ ethnic or social origin, poverty and social marginalization.
- Proportionality of sentencing
The Working Group’s country visits and communications clearly demonstrate that international supervisory mechanisms such as the Human Rights Committee and the relevant special procedures have an important task in the years ahead in reviewing the proportionality of detention in domestic legislation and practice. The Working Group has also identified best practice in complying with the proportionality requirement. The universal periodic review process of the Human Rights Council and other State-to-State peer review and dialogue-based mechanisms are providing increasing assistance to States in their compliance with international law obligations.
- Proportionality of sentencing