PRISONS

AIMS OF PUNISHMENT

• Retributivism: offender is an autonomous individual who should be treated with respect of Punishment is in deprivation of liberty, not ill-treatment

• Utilitarianism: positive aspects of prison can improve rehabilitative function

• Rehabilitation: prisoners' rights must be respected

PURPOSES OF

IMPRISONMENT

• Jack Straw (SSJ in 2008): "Prisons are, as they should be, first and foremost places of punishment, primarily through the deprivation of liberty but also through a regime behind bars which is tough and fair" o But also recognised that they must allow for "reformed behaviour and rehabilitation"

• Prison Service Statement of Purpose (1988) o Serves the public "by keeping in custody those committed by the courts" o Duty is to "look after them with humanity and help them to lead a law abiding life in prison and on release" Woolf Report: need to strike a balance between security, control and justice o Justice is often displaced by a focus on control and security 'Decency' agenda (1999) o "caring for and treating with respect everybody in the Service's care"

• National Offender Management Service (NOMS) o Prison Service became part of NOMS in 2004 after the Carter Review o NOMS became part of the MoJ in 2007 o NOMS

• Statement of Purpose: "commission and provide offender management services … ensuring best value for money"  Aim to protect the public and reduce reoffending while supporting rehabilitation Prison Rule 3: conduct training and treatment to encourage and assist prisoners to lead a "good and useful life"

CURRENT PRISON

STATE

Increased demand over the years has led to prison building o 21 new prions opened between 1980 and 1996 o 20,000 new places from 1997 to 2010 Increased use of private prisons Now, approximately 120 prisons and 13 private prisons o 84,078 prisoners o 12 women's prisons (might have baby units for children up to 2 years of age)  Since there are so few, likely to be further from home Not all prisons are purpose-built o Includes converted houses, military camps and other buildings Closure of small, expensive prisons o Clustering of prisons into a single area/compound so as to reduce spending  Reduced costs for separate management staff and services  BUT harder to manage since they are larger Types of prisons o Local prisons  In towns and cities  Usually used for remand prisons or for temporary purposes  Post-sentence for assessment before transfer to a training prison  Possibly for short sentences and those at the end of sentences  Usually have the worst over-crowding and worst conditions  Includes some core local prisons with high security (e.g. Belmarsh) o Training prisons  Might be closed or open  Includes specialist prisons (e.g. therapeutic prisons like Grendon)  Open training prisons are used for Cat D prisoners  Allows prisoners to work in prison or in the local community  Ford Open Prison riots in 2011 o Buildings set alight and damage inflicted o Vulnerable Prisoners' Units  For vulnerable prisoners (e.g. sex offenders) who might be assaulted by other prisoners o Close Supervision Centres (CSC)  In High Security prisons  For severely disruptive or violent prisoners  More time spent locked up and strictly structured regime o Protected Witness Units Cost of prison o Approximately £37,000 per place o For Oakwood (new prison), average cost of £13,000 - £16,000 per prisoner  Private prison run by G4S, originally meant to be a "titan" prison

CATEGORISATION OF PRISONERS

• Categorisation is governed by the National Security Framework• Prisoners should be placed in the lowest category consistent with the need for

security and control o Categorisation takes into account current sentence as well as previous convictions and escapes (or escape attempts) o Categorisation is reviewed regularly (yearly) on the basis of risk of danger to the public and risk of escape 4 main categories used for adult male prisoners o Young adult offenders and women offenders are classified as Cat A or restricted or suitable for open conditions Category A o Prisoners whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or police or the security of the state o Decisions regarding Cat A prisoners are made by a Category A Committee at NOMS Headquarters, whereas other prisoners are dealt with by the Governor o Sub-classification  Standard  High risk: e.g. members of gangs with access to resources for escape  Exceptional risk: have the skills, resources and determination to escape  Held in special security units o More likely to be transferred between prisons  This makes it difficult for them to complete educational or offending behaviour courses, which in turn affects their chances of reclassification o Sent to high-security prisons  Currently 8 high security prisons  More stringent measures (e.g. electronic surveillances, searching of inmates and visitors, higher levels of staffing)  Reasonable conditions for those with longer sentences  Education and work opportunities o Some might be dispersed amongst Cat B prisoners in high-security prisons  Radzinowicz: recommended avoiding creating a "no hope" climate in purely Cat A prisons o R (P) v SSHD (2002): elderly and ill prisoner placed in Cat  

• A  Unlikely to escape but if he did would be highly dangerous  Court: prison service could make escape virtually impossible for highly dangerous prisoners but should consider individual cases Category B o Escape must be made very difficult for them, but the maximum security conditions are not required o Might remain in local prisons for short sentences or be sent to highsecurity or closed training prisons Category C o Cannot be trusted in open conditions o But unlikely to make a determined escape attempt, so not Cat B o Sent to closed training prisons Category D o Trusted in open conditions o Likely to comply with conditions as they want to be released o Might be sent to a resettlement prison shortly before release

PRISON CONDITIONS

• Woolf Report (1991) o Result of the Strangeways Prison Riot in 1990  25 day riot causing 1 death and many injuries as well as £55 million of damage to the prison  Led to further riots in other prisons and Young Offenders Institutions o Report found that the prisoners had legitimate grievances and recommended major reform of the system  Regimes were impoverished with little access to education and work  Staff had a culture of indifference while the prisoners felt unfairly treated o Feeling of injustice played a more significant role than overcrowding o Recommendations  Give reasons for decisions and improve legitimacy  Have a proper and fair grievance and disciplinary procedure  Prisoners should not be made to share cells  There should be adequate sanitation and hygiene standards o Well received by government and prison reformers  Immediate improvements in access to phones, visiting arrangements and prison conditions  National operating standards introduced in 1994 but since overtaken by Key Performance Indicator Targets  Reform of the Prison Rules in 1999  Improved end-to-end management 

• Personal Officer assigned to prisoners  Sentence planning to make the best use of the time in prison  More cooperation between Prison and Probation Service  Appointment of Ombudsman in 1994 as means of appeal against decisions in disciplinary hearings (also covers immigration detention, prison conditions, deaths in custody, treatment by officers etc.)  Can make non-binding report and recommendations which are usually accepted  However, the internal procedures in prison must be exhausted first o BUT some aspects not implemented  Use of small community prisons nearer to the prisoners' homes  Balance of security, control and justice  Greater emphasis on security after several escapes in mid1990s  Prisons still face problems of poor physical conditions and staff relations  Insufficient work provision Prisons governed by Prison Rules 1999 o Frequently updated and amended o Generally, prison conditions have improved but are still worse off than the Netherlands (Easton, 2011) Prison league tables o Rank prisons on their performance based on key performance indicator targets o By forcing prisons to compete for contracts, intended to drive up standards and penalise poor performance

WORK • Allows prisoner to find relief from boredom and acquire skills/income  Helps the prison to keep prisoners occupied and ease their transition back into society (strong correlation between reoffending and unemployment) o There are usually insufficient work opportunities and not all offenders are suitable for all jobs  Availability of work can depend greatly on the specific prison o Woolf Report: prisoners should be allowed to work in areas which fit their abilities  This would allow them to be more constructive and also better prepare them for release o Time spent out of the cell used to be a KPI Target but not since 2004  2011: the average time spent out of cells was 7-9 hours (for adult men) o Wages  In prison, the minimum rate is £4 per week and schemes are set by governors (or directors of private prisons) at an average of £9  If prisoners work for external employers, National Minimum Wage applies  Mostly prisoners in open prisons near the end of their sentence  Prisoners' Earnings Act 1996 

• Allows deductions from prisoners' wages to make reparations to victims (if they are on enhanced wages) Training Programmes o Constructive regimes make custody more tolerable (Trebilcock, 2011) o Work and education both help reintegration o Prisoners may not remain in the same institution long enough to benefit from programmes (if they get transferred out) o There are also insufficient courses o ISSUE: if completion of a rehabilitation programme is a key factor in parole decisions, depriving prisoners of the opportunity to complete one might be unlawful  SSJ v James [2009] UKHL 22  No infringement of Art 5 although it was irrational not to provide adequate resources for requisite courses  Agreed that SSJ had breached his public law duties, but that didn't make the detention unlawful (so no release) Education o Prison Rule 32(1): every prisoner "able to profit from the educational facilities at a prison shall be encouraged to do so"  Reasonable facilities should be provided, including libraries o But classes might be disrupted by other activities and not all prisoners are motivated Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme o Set up in 1995 under Prison Rule 8 o Privileges earned by good behaviour or performance

• Focuses on earned privileges rather than rights or legitimate expectations o Could be viewed as an informal means of discipline Healthcare o Responsibility for healthcare transferred to NHS o BUT mental healthcare isn't as effectively dealt with  Prevalence of self-harm remains high and not all cases are investigated 

OVERCROWDING• Usually measured by comparing actual numbers with

Certified Normal Accommodation o CNA is the uncrowded capacity calculated for the prison Overcrowding declined in the 1990s during the prison building programme but has been increasing in recent years

• Due to lack of accommodation • Also affected by inflexibility of use: prisons might be too

specialised for transfers o IPP prisoners and whole life prisoners are a problem since it is difficult for them to get out (or impossible for the latter) 

• Not only contribute to overcrowding, but might also refuse to participate in rehabilitation and other programmes: have nothing to lose

• Carter Review (2007) proposed the creation of "Titan" prisons to allow flexibility in allocation as well as economies of scale o BUT costs of setting up the prisons were prohibitive In 2011, 24% of prisoners were held in cells designed for fewer prisoners o Generally worse in local prisons (especially for remand prisons) Measures o End of Custody Licence (ECL) 

• Rationale o Reduce cost and improve standards/innovation by introducing competition ISSUES o Some argued that the field could easily be dominated by one or a few companies 

• Serco, G4S and Kalyx o Genders and Player (2007): Interests of the company and shareholders (reducing costs to maximise profits) might conflict with prisoners' rights and interests o Barak-Ezez (2011):

• punishment should exclusively be the prerogative of the State, private companies have no right to punish offenders 

• Is it enough that the State is responsible for overseeing the prison? 

• James (1997): compared Wolds (first private prison) and Woodhill (new public prison), as well as some other prisons o Found that the new public sector prisons were run in a similar manner to private prisons (possibly due to New Managerialism) o Conditions were generally better at newer prison, whether public or privat

HUMAN RIGHTS

• Importance o Fairness and justice o Reduce dissatisfaction - easier to manage o Improve legitimacy Sources o Universal Declaration on Human Rights, ICCPR and ECHR 

• Judicial review and challenges in the ECtHR o European Prison Rules o Inspections by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture o UK signed Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture 

• Must establish a National Preventive Mechanism which makes regular visits to prisons and other detention institutions ECHR o Art 3: torture and CIDT 

• Also used to challenge full body searches of Art 6: access to courts 

• Also used to challenge conduct of disciplinary hearings o Art 8: respect for private and family life 

• Used to challenge interference with visits and correspondence 

• Used in Szuluk v UK (2009) to assert the right to correspond with a medical specialist of Art 12: right to marry 

• Used to secure temporary release for marriage (Hamer v UK [1979]) or allow marriage within the prison if security concerns apply o Very different rights-based approach whereas the prisons traditionally apply a privileges approach o HRA 1998 

• Incorporates the ECHR rights into domestic law 

• Made it easier for prisoners to assert their rights 

• S6: public authorities must act compatibly 

• Includes private companies acting in areas which were previously in the public sector (i.e. covers private prisons as well) o R v Parole Board ex p Smith [2005] UKHL 1