Andrew Coyle

Andrew Coyle, CMG is Emeritus Professor of Prison Studies at the University of London and Visiting Professor at the University of Essex. He is Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies, a post which he also held from between 1997 and 2005. 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. Between 2003 and 2010 he was a member of the UK Foreign Secretary's Expert Committee against Torture. He was a founding member of the Task Force of WHO Europe on Health in Prison.
He is a member of the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (UK) and of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.
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.
Coyle sat on the Inquiry into the murder of loyalist Billy Wright in the Maze Prison

Coyle’s specialist research interests are human rights in the penal context, international prison reform, prison management, islomania 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.

Coyle was appointed by the Council of Europe as an expert to draft the revised European Prison Rules 2006 and has been retained by the Council to draft a Code of Ethics for Prison Staff.

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

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).

He is Vice President of the National Association of Prison Visitors and is a patron of UNLOCK, The National Association of Ex-Offenders, and Prisoners Abroad, a charity that supports the welfare of Britons imprisoned overseas and their families.

Andrew has accepted an appointment as President of the Howard League for Penal Reform in Scotland (howardleaguescotland.org.uk)