Andrew Coyle is a former Chair of Trustees of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and Emeritus Professor of Prison Studies at the University of London.
He was founding director of the International Centre for Prison Studies and, prior to that, served as a prison governor at several prisons in Scotland and England. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons credited him with achieving “a remarkable transformation” at Brixton.
He has also been an adviser on prison and criminal justice matters to the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the UN Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime, and the Council of Europe. He was also a member of the UK Foreign Secretary's Advisory Committee against Torture and negotiated with the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority for the oversight of certain Palestinian prisoners.
He is the author of, among other books, Prisons of the World, published by Bristol University Press.
