Prisoners Rights In England & Wales

The Prison Act 1952 and the Prison Rules 1999 give very few absolute rights to prisoners; those being right those being access to the courts and not to be mistreated.

However other rights have developed via the European Convention on Human Rights, The Human Rights Act and under the principles of Natural Justice.

Reception

On reception into prison a prisoner will be searched and may be photographed. The prison authorities will keep any property that he or she is not allowed to have with him or her in prison. A list will be made on arrival of all property and the prisoner must be given the opportunity to check it is correct before signing it. All cash must be paid into an account, which is under the governor's control. All prisoners should be issued on arrival with a copy of the Prisoners' Information Handbook. A copy of the Prison Rules must be made available to any prisoner who requests it.

Access to Lawyers

Prisoners have an absolute right to see and seek advice from Solicitors. They do not have to tell the prison authorities why they wish to contact a solicitor, and any communication is deemed to be confidential

Letter

Prisoners serving a sentence or those who have pleaded guilty to an offence may send one letter a week  where the postage has been paid by the Prison, this is known as the 'statutory' letter and at least one privilege letter to a Solicitor which is also known as a Rule 39 letter. If it is a Solicitors letter then the Prisoner will pay for the postage.

Un-convicted prisoners may send as many letters as they wish at their own expense and will be allowed two second-class letters a week on which the postage will be paid by the prison authorities.

Letters between prisoners and Solicitors, the Courts, Criminal Cases Review Commission Prisons, Probation and the Parliamentary Commission for Administration are afforded legal privilege.

Such letters should be marked 'Prison Rule 39', 'Young Offenders Institute Rule 14', or 'SO 5B 32 (3)') and are not to be opened or read unless there is reasonable suspicion that the letter is being used for other purpose, if there is this belief then the letter may only be opened after an authorizing has been granted by an operational manager, and can only be opened in the presence of the prisoner.

Censorship

Mail is censored in dispersal and High risk prisons and for all and any Category A prisoners or those convicted of sexual offences against children. Other Prisoners may also be censored. There is power for the governor to return an 'excessive' number of letters from a correspondent, and letters can be limited by a Governor to four sides of A5 paper.

Letters containing complaints of maltreatment cannot be censored with a view to stopping them going out.

Letters between a prisoner and his or her legal advisor are protected from interference and may not be read nor stopped, whether or not legal proceedings have been issued. There may be examination of such correspondence only to the minimum extent necessary to check that it is bona fide legal correspondence. If a letter is to be inspected it must be done in the presence of the prisoner.

Telephones

All prison have card-operated telephones installed in all prisons so prisoners can call family and friends.

For security reasons all calls will be recorded and all calls may be monitored and recorded, except those to legal advisers, the Samaritans and other reputable organizations.

Use of the telephone may be limited by the governor, but should not be restricted as part of a disciplinary punishment unless the offence was directly related to the misuse of the card-phone or phone card. The Prison Rules do not provide any absolute right to use telephones.  This may, in some circumstances, breach Article 8 of the Convention.

Visits

Convicted prisoners are entitled to a minimum of 2 visits’ every four weeks

All visitors must be sent, by the prisoner, a V.O. (Visiting Order) prior to traveling or arranging the visit. It is also crucial to take acceptable ID.

Exercise

A prisoner must be allowed one hours exercise per day in the open air subject to weather conditions and good order and discipline.

Complaints

Should a Prisoner wish to complain then the procedure in PSO 2510 should be followed( Click here for a direct link to the form) Under PSO 2510  there is a three stage appeal process starting with the prisoner submitting a Form Comp1.  This form can be filled in by the Prisoner or we can assist.

Recall

All individuals on license can be recalled to prison. The recall is initiated by the Probation Service and is effected by the Secretary of State. The complexity of this area extends beyond what would be acceptable in this summary of Prison Law. If the individual is recalled to prison they should contact a legal representative immediately.

 

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