Strasbourg payout ruling due on jail vote ban – BBC News
‘The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is due to rule on whether prisoners who have been denied the vote should get compensation.’
BBC News, 12th August 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: prisons
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling’s policy ‘responsible for prisoner suicides’ – The Independent
‘Chief Inspector slams Justice Secretary for failures on staffing and overcrowding.’
The Independent, 11th August 2014
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Hardcore’ criminals with 100 convictions avoid prison – Daily Telegraph
‘A “hardcore” of repeat offenders, some with more than 100 convictions, are avoiding prison in record numbers, ministers have admitted.’
Daily Telegraph, 6th August 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Florea v Judicial Authority Carei Courthouse, Satu Mare County, Romania – WLR Daily
‘Where there was a real likelihood that a prisoner would serve a sentence in personal space of less than three metres, a serious issue of breach of article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms arose, without the need for other aggravating features and despite the good faith of the Government in seeking to address a problem of historic inadequacy in the prison estate.’
WLR Daily, 30th July 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘Concern’ over more than fifth of prisons – BBC News
‘The performance of more than a fifth of prisons in England and Wales is “of concern”, a government body has said.’
BBC News, 31st July 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Regina (LD and others) v Secretary of State for Justice – WLR Daily
Regina (LD and others) v Secretary of State for Justice [2014] WLR (D) 333
‘The policy contained in Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 67/2011 of targeted strip-searching of women prisoners was not in breach of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.’
WLR Daily, 17th July 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Number of prisoners over 60 in England and Wales doubles in 10 years – The Guardian
‘The number of prisoners over the age of 60 in jail in England and Wales has nearly doubled over the past decade to 3,577, according to the latest Ministry of Justice figures.’
The Guardian, 23rd July 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Ministry of Justice recruits redundant prison officers to ease jail crisis – The Guardian
‘The Ministry of Justice is trying to re-employ more than 2,000 prison officers who only recently took voluntary redundancy, in a move to avert a crisis triggered by the rising number of prisoners in Britain’s jails.’
The Guardian, 20th July 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Chief inspector of prisons: Conditions ‘getting worse’ – BBC News
‘There has been a “significant” and worrying deterioration in the standards of British jails, the chief inspector of prisons in England and Wales says.’
Full story
BBC News, 9th July 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
700 new convictions for ‘historical sex abuse’ pushing up prison population – Daily Telegraph
‘Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, says sex offenders found guilty of historical crimes are partly to blame for a 1,600 year-on-year rise in prison numbers.’
Daily Telegraph, 9th July 2014
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Prisoner Anthony Douglas accidentally released because of shared surname – The Guardian
‘Inquiry launched into how man with same surname as another inmate due to come out came to be released from HMP Hewell.’
The Guardian, 7th July 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Prison law legal aid appeal granted – Law Society’s Gazette
‘The fight by two charities against cuts to prison law legal aid will continue after the Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal the High Court’s rejection of the challenge.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 2nd July 2014
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Should prisoners have the right to vote? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘Since 1969 no convicted prisoner in the UK has been allowed to vote. This prohibition was imposed, without debate, by the Representation of the People Act 1969. For two years before that there was no statutory bar to prisoners voting by post, albeit that there were, in many cases, administrative restrictions that prevented them from doing so.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 30th June 2014
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Bedtimes introduced for young offenders – BBC News
‘All young offenders will face strict bedtimes for the first time, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has announced.’
BBC News, 28th June 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Regina (Tabbakh) v Staffordshire and West Midlands Probation Trust and another – WLR Daily
‘In respect of a prisoner due to be released on licence who was subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements, the policy guidance governing the imposition by the Secretary of State for Justice of additional conditions on the prisoner’s licence did not breach the requirements of procedural fairness or article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and was not inherently unlawful.’
WLR Daily, 19th June 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Open Prisons – BBC Law in Action
‘Following a spate of high profile escapes, Law in Action asks does the open prison system need reforming?
This week, Joshua Rozenberg visits Kirkham Prison – an open prison in Lancashire – to find out what open prisons are really like. In the studio, Joshua speaks to Conservative MP Philip Davies – who has been highly critical of the system – and journalist Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, who was given a 26-year sentence for bank robbery.’
BBC Law in Action, 17th June 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Delay on tougher sentences for knife crime to avoid prison overcrowding – The Guardian
‘The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, is expected to delay the introduction of a guideline for minimum six-month jail sentences for those repeatedly caught carrying a knife because of the impact on the rising prison population.’
The Guardian, 17th June 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Prisons face overcrowding due to policy failure, says watchdog – The Guardian
‘The public is being put at risk by a “political and policy failure” in jails which risks boiling over this summer, the prisons’ inspectorate has warned as the government admitted more inmates would have to share cells to cope with an unexpected rise in numbers.’
The Guardian, 14th June 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘We are recreating Bedlam’: the crisis in prison mental health services – The Guardian
‘Mental health services in prison are under critical strain – in some institutions, as many as half of all inmates may need psychiatric help, but are often unable to get it. Such failures can have tragic results.’
The Guardian, 24th May 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Prisoners who have absconded should not be in open prisons, says Grayling – The Guardian
‘The justice secretary is to prevent prisoners who have absconded from being placed in open prison conditions after a convicted murderer went on the run for the third time.’
The Guardian, 19th May 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
