Andrew Coyle

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Professor Andrew Coyle is Professor of Prison Studies in the School of Law at King's College London. Between 1997 and February 2005 he was founding Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies. He is a prisons adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Latin American Institute, the Council of Europe, including its Committee for the Prevention of Torture, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and several national governments. He is a member of the UK Foreign Secretary's Expert Committee against Torture. In 2003-2004 he has been member of the Task Force of WHO Europe on Health in Prison.

Since 2000 he has been Honorary Professor in the Academy of Law and Management, Ministry of Justice, Russian Federation.

Previously he worked for 25 years at a senior level in the prison services of the United Kingdom. While in the Scottish Prison Service he was Governor of Greenock, Peterhead and Shotts Prisons. Between 1991 and 1997 he was Governor of Brixton Prison in London.

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 2003 for his contribution to international penal reform. He is a Fellow of King's College London (FKC).

Coyle is currently sitting on the Inquiry into the death of loyalist Billy Wright in the Maze Prison, The Billy Wright Inquiry.

[edit] Research

Andrew Coyle’s specialist research interests are human rights in the penal context, international prison reform, prison management and alternatives to prison. Through his work in the International Centre for Prison Studies he has led research and project activities to develop a body of knowledge, which is based on international human rights covenants and standards, about the principles on which the use of imprisonment should be based and which can be used as a sound basis for policies on prison issues. Under his direction the Centre built up a resource network for the spread of best practice in prison management worldwide which is used by prison administrators for practical advice on how to manage prison systems in a just, decent, humane and cost effective manner.

The International Centre for Prison Studies assists governments and other relevant agencies to develop appropriate policies on prisons and the use of imprisonment. It carries out its work on a project or consultancy basis for international agencies, governmental and non-governmental organisations. It makes the results of its academic research and projects widely available to groups and individuals, some of whom might not normally use such work. These include policy makers, practitioners and administrators, the media and the general public. This dissemination is aimed at increasing an understanding of the purpose of prison and what can be expected of it.

Andrew Coyle is currently involved in the Centre's work in North, Central and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as in the United Kingdom. He has been appointed by the Council of Europe as an expert to draft a revision of the European Prison Rules and is a member of the World Health Organisation’s Health in Prisons task force.

He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Punishment & Society.

Professor Coyle is married to Baroness Stern