Judgment No CCZ 8/16 11 Const. Application No CCZ 48/15 a prisoner’s rehabilitation; institutions should endeavour to achieve the individualisation of prisoner treatment. On 17 December 2015, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 70/175, titled the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules). The 2015 Rules are designed to revise the original 1957 Rules so as to reflect recent advances in correctional science and best practices as well as major developments in human rights and criminal justice since 1957. The 2015 Rules pertaining to prisoners under sentence, i.e. Rules 86 to 90, are essentially similar to those contained in the precursor 1957 Rules. However, in the section dealing with rules of general application, the 2015 Rules incorporate certain basic principles that are novel in their emphasis on human dignity and the need to safeguard that dignity through appropriate corrective measures. In particular, Rules 1 and 4 state as follows: “1. All prisoners shall be treated with the respect due to their inherent dignity and value as human beings. No prisoner shall be subjected to, and all prisoners shall be protected from, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, for which no circumstances may be invoked as a justification. The safety and security of prisoners, staff, service providers and visitors shall be ensured at all times.” “4. The purposes of a sentence of imprisonment or similar measures deprivative of a person’s liberty are primarily to protect society against crime and to reduce recidivism. These purposes can be achieved only if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure, so far as possible, the reintegration of such persons into society upon release so that they can lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life.” The status of General Assembly resolutions was considered by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons 1996 ICJ Reports 226, at para. 70: