Prisons - new material (78)
01 January 2011
Monitoring places of detention: annual report 2009-2010. National Preventive Mechanism (February) 2011, pp. 66 (ISBN 9780101801027). The National Preventative Mechanism was set up in 2009 by the UK government to meet UN treaty obligations on the treatment of those held in any form of custody and is made up of 18 independent bodies, co-ordinated by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. It covers UK prisons, police custody, children's secure accommodation and immigration, military and mental health detention. It focuses on the following issues: vulnerable people; diverting detainees with mental health problems from the criminal justice system; the use of restraint; prison overcrowding; the negative impact immigration detention can have on children's emotional wellbeing and the rights to dignity and privacy of people in social care and health settings. http://www.justice.gov.uk/inspectorates/hmi-prisons/docs/National_Preventive_Mechanism_Annual_report_2009-2010%28web%29.pdf
Double Trouble? Black, Asian and minority ethnic offenders’ experiences of resettlement, Jessica Jacobson, Coretta Phillips and Kimmett Edgar. Clinks and the Prison Reform Trust, November 2010, pp. 52. The report sets out the findings of research involving interviews with 113 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals, of whom 65 were serving prisoners, 28 were on licence and 20 had previously been in prison. Those who participated in the study: “predominantly spoke of resettlement needs as generic rather than ethnically specific. Among these needs, accommodation and employment featured as the most crucial, with the issue of finances also being frequently highlighted as critical, but usually linked to employment. Some respondents spoke of the importance of healthcare (specifically in relation to mental health) and the management of drug or alcohol problems.” http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/%27Double%20Trouble%27.pdf
Recent Developments in Prison Law – Part 1, Hamish Arnott, Nancy Collins and Simon Creighton. Legal Action (January) 2011, pp. 26-32. Update on the law relating to prisons and prisoners. This article reviews recent policy relating to searching, health care, contact with the media, indeterminate sentences and parole, determinate sentences and the European Convention on Human Rights, recall and Home Detention Curfew.
Report to the Government of Ireland on the visit to Ireland carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 25 January to 5 February 2010. European Committee for the
Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 2011, pp. 88. In the course its 2010 visit, the CPT reviewed the treatment of people detained by the Garda Síochána and examined the treatment of inmates and conditions of detention in a number of prisons, as well as visiting three psychiatric hospitals, and an institution for persons with intellectual disabilities. It observes that “progress continues to be made in reducing ill-treatment by police officers; nevertheless, the persistence of some allegations makes clear that the Irish authorities must remain vigilant. The CPT recommends that senior police officers remind their subordinates at regular intervals that the ill-treatment of detained persons is not acceptable and will be the subject of severe sanctions.” Regarding prisons, the CPT expressed serious concern about the continuing high level of inter-prisoner violence at Mountjoy Prison. It also raised a series of concerns relating to the provision of healthcare at Cork, Midlands and Mountjoy Prisons and about the administration of methadone and the prescription of medication. The report criticises the use of special observation cells and encourages the authorities to continue to improve access to psychiatric care in prisons. The report, and the Irish government’s response to it, is available at: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/feb/coe-cptt-report-on-ireland.pdf
Breaking the Cycle: effective punishment, rehabilitation and sentencing of offenders. Ministry of Justice (December) 2010, pp. 92. (ISBN: 9780101797221). This government Green Paper on the future of prisons and probation contains a list of proposals for sentencing and rehabilitation. It argues that: “The criminal justice system cannot remain an expensive way of giving the public a break from offenders, before they return to commit more crimes. We plan to transform the administration of punishment in this country to make it more robust and credible. Prisons will become places of hard work and industry, instead of enforced idleness. There will be greater use of strenuous, unpaid work as part of a community sentence alongside tagging and curfews, delivered swiftly after sentencing. When fines are a sensible sentence, we will place a greater focus on enforcement and collection. We will put a much stronger emphasis on compensation for victims of crime.”