Remanding Women in Custody: Concerns for Human Rights

Concern about the increasing population of women in prison has tended to focus on the sentencing of female offenders. It is often overlooked that about one in five women held in custody is there on remand, awaiting trial or sentence, and that most of them will not receive a prison sentence at the end of the process. This article examines the legal grounds for a custodial remand and explores the extent to which individual rights guaranteed under the European Convention are adequately protected. It is argued that women are particularly disadvantaged by the laws governing bail and by their practical application in the criminal justice system; and that the pre-trial detention of so many women routinely violates the spirit of the Convention by allowing questionable claims to social utility to prevail over the right to liberty and to a fair trial.