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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12. Appendix One<br />
12.1 Legal Framework<br />
This section sets out some of the recent changes (2004 – 2010) that have<br />
been made to the legislative framework that guides policy <strong>and</strong> practice in<br />
prisons.<br />
The Corrections Act 2004<br />
The Corrections Act 2004 (<strong>and</strong> Corrections Regulations 2005) replaces the<br />
former corrections regime under the Penal Institutions Act 1954 <strong>and</strong><br />
associated regulations, <strong>and</strong> governs the administration of prisons.<br />
Positive features of the new legislation include:<br />
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The explicit reference in the Act‟s purpose statement (s5) to<br />
compliance with the United Nations St<strong>and</strong>ard Minimum Rules for the<br />
Treatment of Prisoners <strong>and</strong> the inclusion of prisoners‟ minimum<br />
entitlements (for example, related to communications, library services<br />
<strong>and</strong> education) in the legislation;<br />
The clear reference to the role of the corrections system in providing<br />
rehabilitation <strong>and</strong> reintegration;<br />
The expansion of complaints provisions <strong>and</strong> their elevation to primary<br />
legislation;<br />
Improvements to the disciplinary offence regime;<br />
Decisions to segregate prisoners for security or protection reasons to<br />
be reviewed on a monthly, rather than three-monthly, basis;<br />
The inclusion of the <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Commission among the list of<br />
specified statutory visitors able to „visit a prison <strong>and</strong> have access to a<br />
prisoner(s) or staff at any time as long as the visit is consistent with the<br />
visitor‟s statutory duties‟ (ss 73, 2);<br />
That the Chief Executive <strong>and</strong> Prison Managers are to obtain advice<br />
from those communities that are significantly affected by Corrections<br />
policies <strong>and</strong> practices.<br />
The Corrections Act also ended contractual arrangements that allowed for the<br />
private management of prisons. This issue has since been revisited, with<br />
legislation introduced to once again enable prison management to be<br />
contracted to private parties. The Corrections (Contract Management of<br />
<strong>Prisons</strong>) Amendment Act 2009 includes requirements that contractors comply<br />
with relevant international obligations <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>and</strong> report regularly to<br />
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