Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment
Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment
Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment
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9. Protection Measures<br />
This section details the range of protection measures afforded to prisoners<br />
<strong>and</strong> staff – via information systems, disciplinary procedures, <strong>and</strong> complaints<br />
<strong>and</strong> inspection systems.<br />
9.1 Provision of Information<br />
Law <strong>and</strong> policy framework<br />
The Corrections Act 2004 (s6(1)(f)) states that the provision of information<br />
about rules, obligations <strong>and</strong> entitlements is a central principle guiding the<br />
corrections system. At induction, new prisoners are to be given written<br />
information on the operation/rules of the prison <strong>and</strong> prisoner entitlements.<br />
The Prison Sevice Operations Manual (I.04) sets out that prisoners must be<br />
informed of their obligations, rights <strong>and</strong> privileges, <strong>and</strong> service access, in a<br />
way they can underst<strong>and</strong>. Prisoners who are citizens of another country<br />
should be advised that they are afforded access to their consular<br />
representative.<br />
With regards to transfers, prisoners must be informed of the transfer, including<br />
destination, at least a week in advance. They must also be given reasonable<br />
opportunity to inform a family member. There are exceptions to these rules<br />
on the grounds of safety, security <strong>and</strong> even „to allow for the effective<br />
management of the national prisoner muster‟ (Corrections Act, s55(2)(d)). If<br />
this occurs, a prisoner must be allowed one free phone call, on arrival at the<br />
new prison, to advise family members. The reasons for transfer must be<br />
given if a prisoner requests that information, in writing within a month of<br />
transfer. Relevant policies are contained within PSOM (M.01-M.04,<br />
Movements).<br />
Issues<br />
Access to information has, historically, been an issue within the prisons. The<br />
Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into the <strong>Prisons</strong> System (1989:s3.5) showed<br />
that prisoners commonly complained that there was „uncertainty <strong>and</strong><br />
inconsistency of prison life; uncertainty as to their rights <strong>and</strong> obligations <strong>and</strong><br />
inconsistency in the interpretation <strong>and</strong> enforcement of the rules governing<br />
them in different prisons‟.<br />
The issue of information access was improved with the introduction of<br />
information kiosks that allow prisoners to check rules themselves. Following<br />
their introduction, the Ombudsmen‟s Office (2005:61) stated that the system<br />
„appears excellent‟. However, more recently, concerns have been raised<br />
about information access, principally as many kiosks have been damaged or<br />
broken. Further follow-up research on access to, <strong>and</strong> timeliness of,<br />
information would be useful.<br />
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