The European Survey on Prison Oversight Bodies (ESPO) is the first cross-national survey on prison oversight bodies. Its main objective is to gather updated and comparable information on the structures for dealing with the inspection of prisons across the European Union. The survey is directed by Dr Mary Rogan and Dr Eva Aizpurua, at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, as part of the ‘Prisons: the rule of law, accountability and rights’ (PRILA) project, funded by the European Research Council.

The European Survey on Prison Oversight Bodies opened on Monday, January 28, and is available for 60 days.

The survey was developed by the PRILA team in consultation with international experts in the field. It seeks responses from experts in participating countries, and takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. The PRILA team working on the ESPO survey can be contacted at prila@tcd.ie.