The age-old practice of 'slopping out' - referred to at the time by penal reform groups as the 'single most degrading element of imprisonment this century' 2 - was officially brought to an end on Friday April 12 1996.

Do UK prisons still slop out?

Slopping out was allegedly abolished in England and Wales by 1996, although Private Eye in 2011 reported that Prisons Inspector Nick Hardwick stated that it still persisted at HMP Gloucester. ... Slopping out is still in practice in prisons in the Republic of Ireland.

Is slopping out a violation of human rights?

SLOPPING OUT AND CELL CONDITIONS

Slopping out, or the discharge of human waste into a receptacle such as a bucket or chamber pot, has been litigated as a breach of rights under the Constitution and the Convention in some cases.