Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

Issues
The Ombudsmen‟s Office (2005:31) noted that some prisoners complained
that „general punishment had been imposed upon their entire unit as a result
of the actions of one/few fellow prisoners‟. Further, this report highlighted that
some prisoners were not told that they have been placed on Incident Report
(and only found out that this was the case when they arrived at Parole Board).
In the year to the end of June 2009, the Ombudsmen‟s Office received 337
complaints about prisoner discipline and misconduct. Many of the formal
complaints, received by the Inspectors of Corrections in 2008/2009, also
related to the timeliness of disciplinary charges. Further research in this area
would be useful.
9.4 Complaints and Inspection Procedures
Law and policy framework
Prisoners wanting to make complaints are to be given the opportunity to
obtain assistance, verify information and, if they have difficulties with verbal or
written communication, assistance to prepare or present their case
(Corrections Act:s154). System objectives also include: ensuring that all
reasonable steps are taken to investigate complaints; ensuring that
complaints are, to the extent possible, investigated in a culturally sensitive
manner; disclosing identities of complainants only to the extent necessary to
assist in the investigation of complaints; and monitoring and auditing of
complaints to ensure effectiveness of the system. The Corrections Act (subpart
6) and Section PC.01 of the Prison Service Operations Manual provide
further information on complaints, investigations, and inspections.
Internal Complaints System
The internal complaints system aims to ensure that prisoner complaints are
dealt with at the lowest and most informal level (Corrections Act:s152).
Investigations on complaints can be refused if the prison manager views that
the complaint is frivolous or vexatious (r163).
There have been concerns about the under-utilisation and ad hoc nature of
the internal complaints process (Ministry of Justice, 2007:213; Ministry of
Justice, 2005). There have also been criticisms of the delays in hearing, and
investigating, prisoner complaints. For instance, in 2007, the Ombudsmen‟s
Office (Case Notes A10518) noted a prisoner complaint of assault had not
been responded to with a prompt and fair investigation. There had been
unreasonable delay in the authorities investigating the matter, and the
investigation was deemed „inadequate‟. „It seemed...that the inmate‟s
complaint had simply not been taken seriously‟. Previously, the
Ombudsmen‟s Office (2005) also remarked that prisoners do not have faith in
the internal complaints system. While it might have the capacity to work,
prisoners do not have trust in the system. The Ombudsmen‟s Office
anticipated that the more detailed requirements of the Corrections Regulations
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