Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

this context, the law is one crucial means that prisoners can gain protection
(Livingstone, 2008).
Legislation can reassert that prisoners have rights rather than privileges and
while the use of law may occasionally be seen as an irritant it offers a sense
of justice that is essential for the legitimacy of the prison order.
Fundamentally, law can provide a means of opening up the closed world of
prisons to public scrutiny; it provides a set of standards against which to
evaluate prison rules and practices; and reaffirms the principle that prisoners
should not be „subjected to any hardship or constraint other than that resulting
from the deprivation of liberty‟ (UN Human Rights Committee, 1992:3).
There is a range of international standards and instruments that relate directly
to imprisonment. These include:
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners
The Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons Under Any
Form of Detention or Imprisonment
The Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice
New Zealand has taken many steps to bring domestic law into compliance
with these international human rights obligations.
At the same time, the UN Committee against Torture (2009:4) has recently
shown concern that the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 is not a supreme
law that takes higher status than other domestic law. As they note (ibid), this
„may result in the enactment of laws that are incompatible with the
Convention‟. Indeed, on a number of occasions, legislation that has been
inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act has been passed (Geiringer, 2009).
Some of this new legislation has undermined rights standards in relation to
prisoners.
Appendix One summarises some of the recent (2004 – 2010) changes that
have been made to the legislative framework that guides policy and practice in
prisons. The most significant of these has been the enactment of the
Corrections Act 2004 (and Corrections Regulations 2005) which replaces the
former Penal Institutions Act 1954 and associated regulations.
Positive features of this new legislation include:
The explicit reference in the Act‟s purpose statement (s5) to
compliance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Treatment of Prisoners;
12