The Prison Archive was founded in 1977 by Johannes Feest at the beginning of his work as a university lecturer at the University of Bremen, Faculty of Law. As the name, which it has borne since 1983, suggests, it collects literature and case law on the subject of the penal system and related topics.
However, the actual special feature of the Prison Archive is not apparent from its name. From the very beginning, the archive has received written inquiries from prisoners in the penal system. These are answered by us (on a voluntary basis). A (small) circle of people from the university, including students and people from legal practice, which varies in size and composition, is involved in this.
In 2012, the Prison Archive moved from the University of Bremen to the Fachhochschule Dortmund, where it is in the care of Christine Graebsch and Sven-U. Burkhardt. The association Strafvollzugsarchiv e. V. (Chairman: Johannes Feest) continues to exist in Bremen and supports the activities of the Prison Archive.
The Prison Archive has also been closely linked to research and teaching on the legal reality of and in prisons from the very beginning. In particular, communication with prisoners - even if it took place on the occasion of the questions they asked - was never a one-sided consultation, but always a mutual learning process.
The understanding of the situation of being a prisoner and the prison that was conveyed through the letter contact flows into teaching at various universities (Fachhochschule Dortmund, University of Bremen, University of Hamburg) as well as into scientific publications and legal policy debates. In particular, the commentary on prison law known as the "alternative commentary", most recently published in its 7th edition by Johannes Feest, Wolfgang Lesting and Michael Lindemann in 2017, should be mentioned. In addition, the Prison Archive now has its own series of publications published by Springer-Verlag.
To be more precise
Volunteer work in the prison archive includes, in particular, answering prisoners' letters with questions on the following areas:
- Prison system and execution of sentences
- Correctional facilities and enforcement of sentences (Sections 63, 64 and 66 StGB)
- Pre-trial detention
- Detention pending deportation and deportation from detention or extradition
- Release, probation assistance and supervision of conduct after imprisonment
- Supplying prisoner magazines with legal information.
The limits of the activity
The voluntary nature of the work in the prison archive limits our capacities and the extent to which we can deal with inquiries from prisoners. In addition, we are unable to respond to many questions from prisoners simply because they lie outside our specialist expertise or outside the remit of the Prison Archives.
The fulfillment of the following requests is completely beyond our capabilities:
- Answering telephone inquiries
- Sending books free of charge (we have no budget for this)
- This also applies to the AK StVollzG (which we would have to buy ourselves)
- Copying court decisions after listing prisoners (this would also overburden us in terms of personnel, time and money; instead, please ask a specific question and outline your situation as briefly as possible; if necessary, we will ask you follow-up questions).
events
The Prison Action Days were coordinated by the Prison Archives in 2020.