The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER

1989

Book Reviews IMPR I SONMENT: THE LEGAL STATUS OF PRISONERS By G. D. Treverton-Jones, M.A.Oxon. of the Inner Temple, Barrister. Sweet & Maxwell. This book states and explains the body of law applicable to prisoners in the UK as at 1st September 1988 and is aptly prefaced by the quote of W. S. Churchill "The mood and temper of the public with regard to the t r ea tment of crime and criminals is one of the most un- failing tests of the civilisation of any country". Chapter I outlines the history and structure of the penal system from a privately operated profit-making system to the present-day modern process under Home Office control, included are the origins of the Habeas Corpus Acts and the contri- bution to reform of such well known persons as Elizabeth Fry whose work at Newgate from 1816 lasted for nearly 30 years. Chapter II surveys the sentencing powers of the Court including the concept of extended sentencing. The object of extended sentencing is to enable the Courts to impose a longer term of imprisonment than the offence itself would have attracted, in order to "protect the public f r om the activities of persistent offenders". Chapter III deals wi th prisoners' rights including the application of the Bill of Rights 1688 and the familiar European Convention on Human Rights (1950) to which all 21 members of the Council of Europe are parties. A reference is included to one of the strangest cases litigated in the UK, the case of Meah -v- McCreamer [1985] 1 All E.R. 367. The applicant, convicted of sexual assaults on women, successfully claimed that this was due to a personality change caused by head injuries/ brain damage sustained as a result of a road accident in which he was a vehicle passenger. Prior to the accident, though he had committed a number of criminal offences, he had man i f es t ed no violence towards women. The Courts held that since, but for the head injuries and subsequent personality

change, the plaintiff would not have committed the offences for which he was serving a life sentence, he was en t i t l ed to subs t an t i al damages to compensate him for being in prison. He was awarded £60,000 general damages without specifying what proportion of that sum was specifically intended to compensate for his imprisonment. Chapters IV and V detail the law relating to the classification of prisoners and the daily regime in prisons. Chapter VI outlines the develop- ment of the law in the areas of prisoner's correspondence, visits and access to the Courts, the issues concerning the prisoner as a litigant and the various means of procuring or ensuring the attend- ance of a prisoner in court. Of interest are the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in Golder -v- United Kingdom [1975] 1 E.H.R.R. 524 on prisoner's access to legal advice, Silver -v- United Kingdom [1980] 3 E.H.R.R. 475 and [1983] 5 E.H.R.R. 347 on censor- ship of mail to inter alia legal advisers and R. -v- Board of Visitors Dartmouth Prison exp. Smith [1987] Q.B. 106 on access to the Courts and the general impact of judicial review on Prison Regula- tions. The latter reminds us that " t he Courts are in general the ultimate custodians of the rights and liberties of the subject what- ever his status and however a t t enua t ed t hose rights and liberties may be as a result of some punititive or other process". Chapters VII and VIII review the law and regulations on prison discipline and the transfer and release of prisoners. Included are the provisions of the Repatriation and Prisoners Act 1984 which permits the movement of prisoners between jurisdictions party to the International Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons 1983. This Convention enables a term of imprisonment imposed in one jurisdiction to be served in another jurisdiction, w i th the prisoner's consent. Chapter IX outlines the legal effects of a sentence of imprison- ment upon life outside prison wi th emphasis on con t r ac ts of employment. The provisions of the Repatriation and Prisoners Act, 1984 are included. The effects of this legislation are that a person

who has become a rehabilitated person in respect of a specified conviction is treated for most purposes as a person " who has not committed or been charged with or prosecuted for or convicted of or sentenced for the offence or offences which were the subject of that conviction". Finally the Prison Rules 1964 (as amended) and the European Prison Rules 1987 (Revised European version of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners) are reproduced as appendices. In relation to the complexity of law and regulations in particular areas, the reference to the decision of the European Court in Sunday Times -v- United Kingdom [1979] 2 E.H.R.R. 245 on the interpretation of " i n accordance with law", is notable. Apart from the require- ment that the relevant law must be adequately accessible to the ordinary citizen, there is the additional requirement that " i t must be formulated with sufficient precision to enable the citizen to regulate his conduct accordingly". There is no comparable work available on the domestic law of the Republic of Ireland and the UK text does provide a significant and interesting insight into a corpus of law in this area. Tom Cahill, M.Litt., B.L., M.C.I.T. FREEDOM, THE I ND I V I DUAL AND THE LAW 6th Edition. By Geoffrey Robertson. (London: Penguin Books, 1989, paperback 442 pp. £7.99 sterling) The library of many lawyers contains an edition of Freedom, the Individual and the Law by the late Harry Street, Solicitor, who died in 1984. The five earlier editions were written by "a street-wise academic who knew what was in the Emperor's wardrobe and was not afraid to point out to the crowd the need for new clothes". Very little of Harry Street's original text remains, but Geoffrey Robertson endeavours to maintain Harry Street's focus on the practical consequences of legal rules and those areas which require reform.

290