Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Employees should perform their duties honestly, faithfully and efficiently, respecting the rights of the public, colleagues and offenders; Employees should not bring their employer into disrepute through their private activities. In relation to the second principle, the Code of Conduct makes a number of points, including: You are expected to treat your colleagues, offenders and any people with whom you have official dealings with courtesy and respect. This includes respecting and being responsive to people from all cultures. You must not discriminate on the basis of the person‟s sex, marital status, religious or ethical belief, colour, race, ethnic or national origins, disability, age, political opinion, employment status, family status, or sexual orientation. Role modeling: All employees play an important part in reducing reoffending. Your working relationships with other employees and with offenders must be based upon the principles of courtesy and respect for the dignity of others. You must also acknowledge that your actions, attitudes and behaviours will influence offenders and it is your job, therefore, to ensure that influence is a positive one. Serious misconduct under the Code includes: violence or threats of violence against offenders or others in the workplace; threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour to any person in the workplace; sexual or racial harassment of Department employees, offenders or others in the workplace. These activities can receive a number of penalties including warnings and dismissal. Corrections regulations state that every officer „must obey without question any lawful order given by his or her senior officer; but may later raise its validity‟ (r13). Regulation 14 also states that „no security officer or staff member may receive any money, gratuity, reward, gift, or benefit of any kind from or on behalf of a prisoner; neither must they enter into an agreement of benefit with a prisoner. Regulation 17 details that the prison manager, or chief executive, must be informed if it appears that there is a conflict of interest between an officer‟s personal or business interests and their interactions with prisoners. Issues Over recent years, there has been a range of allegations about inappropriate conduct by prison staff. For instance, four prison officers were stood down for allegedly using prisoners to work on their private homes in 2007 (Cook, 2007). In 2008, there was a claim, at Christchurch Men‟s Prison, that a female staff member had been engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner, and that this matter had not been attended to by management (NZPA, 2008b). In addition, there have been cases of corrupt prison officer activity at Rimutaka Prison. The subsequent Patten Investigation (2008) found that, while there was no evidence of systemic corruption, a culture did exist at 116
Rimutaka that allowed some individual instances of corruption to occur (Patten, 2008). In 2009, Rimutaka prison had a female officer suspended after allegations of a prisoner liaison (Fitzsimons, 2009) and, in 2011, a senior manager pleaded guilty to drug offences, including cannabis cultivation (The Dominion Post, 2011). The establishment of the Professional Standards Unit is a commendable step. This Unit started work in November 2007, and by 2009 had investigated 67 cases. In February 2009, The Press highlighted that a quarter of all complaints against Corrections staff, dealt with by the Professional Standards Unit, resulted in disciplinary action (Houlahan, 2009). There is some debate on whether the Unit should be fully independent of Corrections, to mirror the Independent Police Conduct Authority. 117
Page 2 and 3:
Contact the Human Rights Commission
Page 4 and 5:
10. Staff .........................
Page 6 and 7:
Executive Summary This literature r
Page 8 and 9:
are concerns about educational prov
Page 10 and 11:
2. The Cultural and Legal Context R
Page 12 and 13:
this context, the law is one crucia
Page 14 and 15:
Significant New Zealand case law ha
Page 16 and 17:
Reconviction and reimprisonment rat
Page 18 and 19:
dominance of custody is also assert
Page 20 and 21:
On a financial level, this increasi
Page 22 and 23:
Zealand „will offer savings of be
Page 24 and 25:
In response to such criticisms, the
Page 26 and 27:
For instance, overseas studies (Cra
Page 28 and 29:
surveillance, control and managemen
Page 30 and 31:
4. Material Conditions Material con
Page 32 and 33:
Issues The accommodation for prison
Page 34 and 35:
However, it has been used for perio
Page 36 and 37:
Health dietician who provides input
Page 38 and 39:
5. Activities Law and policy framew
Page 40 and 41:
across the penal estate (and within
Page 42 and 43:
Sex Offender Treatment Programme -
Page 44 and 45:
That „therapunitive‟ prisons re
Page 46 and 47:
The consolidation of programmes tha
Page 48 and 49:
Educational Achievement (NCEA); Sec
Page 50 and 51:
Ultimately, she argues for the esta
Page 52 and 53:
up to five minutes per week (s77(3)
Page 54 and 55:
Issues Volunteers can provide a who
Page 56 and 57:
There are concerns about telephone
Page 58 and 59:
The use of temporary release so tha
Page 60 and 61:
Reintegration Unit - currently avai
Page 62 and 63:
6. Health Services Law and policy f
Page 64 and 65:
In reply to such long-lived argumen
Page 66 and 67: suggests that Corrections staff are
Page 68 and 69: Applications for the compulsory ass
Page 70 and 71: when a prisoner‟s mental health d
Page 72 and 73: Restraints must be compatible with
Page 74 and 75: used. A rub-down of the person may
Page 76 and 77: The UN Basic Principles for the Tre
Page 78 and 79: As noted previously (Section 7.2),
Page 80 and 81: An inability to cope with the initi
Page 82 and 83: azor blade policy, under which high
Page 84 and 85: The Department has also issued a Di
Page 86 and 87: of young people. The Ministry of Ju
Page 88 and 89: foster care, multi-systemic therapy
Page 90 and 91: prisoners were ignored. Such approa
Page 92 and 93: in a study that exposed the limits
Page 94 and 95: sexual abuse. However, they also no
Page 96 and 97: Kaumatua have official standing as
Page 98 and 99: of detention together with convicte
Page 100 and 101: 9. Protection Measures This section
Page 102 and 103: 9.3 Disciplinary Procedures Law and
Page 104 and 105: would help to increase prisoner con
Page 106 and 107: Alongside the Ombudsmen‟s Office,
Page 108 and 109: and Victims’ Claims Act 2005 that
Page 110 and 111: 10. Staff Law and policy framework
Page 112 and 113: 10.2 Culture Unlike the literature
Page 114 and 115: eality, the numbers of new staff wi
Page 118 and 119: 11. Conclusion This review has show
Page 120 and 121: Staff-prisoner ratios require impro
Page 122 and 123: Moreover, New Zealand‟s use of pr
Page 124 and 125: the Minister of Corrections on a ra
Page 126 and 127: The Sentencing Amendment Act (No 2)
Page 128 and 129: 12.2 Relevant New Zealand Legal Cas
Page 130 and 131: eginning of the process was a proce
Page 132 and 133: to be provoked must be assessed obj
Page 134 and 135: Distinction Between Prison Discipli
Page 136 and 137: to protect complainants who allege
Page 138 and 139: Refusal To Attend A Funeral Can Be
Page 140 and 141: Treatment Example Of Degrading Trea
Page 142 and 143: Mandatory Life Imprisonment Without
Page 144 and 145: Brennan N (2010) „Prison Staff to
Page 146 and 147: Coyle A and Stern V (2004) „Capti
Page 148 and 149: Treatment or Punishment, In the Mat
Page 150 and 151: HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2009
Page 152 and 153: Liebling A (2006) „Suicides in Pr
Page 154 and 155: Ministry of Justice (2007) Conventi
Page 156 and 157: Ombudsmen‟s Office (2007b) Invest
Page 158 and 159: Sachdev S (2008) „Private Punishm
Page 160 and 161: Tolmie J (2007) „Women and the Cr
show all

Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?