Prisoners - Legal Information Access Centre - NSW Government

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Prisoners’ Legal Issues prisoners face a range of legal issues including most obviously criminal justice issues associated with their principal offence, but also including a wide range of debt, civil law and family law matters. a recent survey by the Law and Justice Foundation of nsW, taking Justice into Custody (2008) 57 identified the following issues. criminAl jusTice issues There may be a range of issues connected with their principal offence; obtaining bail, meeting bail conditions, facing internal disciplinary charges; apprehended violence orders; warrants for other offences which may need to be ‘called in’ (executed); warrants for the collection of DNA samples; eligibility for parole; breaching parole; being subject to police attention after release. civil issues There is a broad range of issues to do with business and employment; housing, obtaining public housing or privately rented housing; caring for personal property which remains outside the jail; obtaining personal identification in order to obtain access to housing, Medicare, receive social security benefits, open bank accounts etc; protecting property taken into custody; social security problems on entry into prison and on release from prison; pre existing debts and debts which accrue in prison (eg unpaid rent; child support agency payments); liability for victims compensation payments; payment of fines; injury and illness in prison; injury arising from assault in prison; media issues; immigration issues and potential deportation. fAmily issues Legal issues including: separation; divorce; substitute care for children; custody issues and housing. legAl services The first point of legal contact for most people arrested is with a Court Duty Solicitor, Legal Aid lawyer or, if Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, a member of the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS), when they appear in court for the first time. Some people in custody may have been permitted to contact a private lawyer to attend the police station or court. The police are required to contact the ALS if the person in custody is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. If remanded in custody to a prison, inmates can make an application through the Prisoners Legal Service (PLS) or Legal Aid for a solicitor to represent them if they are entitled to legal aid. The Inmate Handbook contains contact details for Legal Aid and ALS, some library facilities are available such as legal resources from the State Library’s Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC) and phone calls can be made to LawAccess, a free statewide telephone service which provides legal information, advice and referrals. The Prisoners Legal Service also provides advice and representation in relation to Parole hearings, life sentence determinations, segregation appeals, and visiting justice hearings (although there are few of the latter as most internal disciplinary offences are now dealt with by the Superintendent of the prison). BArriers TO jusTice The Law and Justice Foundation Report, Taking Justice into Custody (2008) identified a number of ‘barriers’ to inmates’ access to justice. These barriers were of four types. 1. Prisoner capacity to actively participate in legal processes is affected by their lives before prison which may have been chaotic; involved damaged and damaging personal relationships; involved poor relationships with governmental agencies and service providers; shown a lack of awareness of the extent of legal issues facing them; involved a reliance on informal relationships; and been affected by limited financial capacity and resources. In addition some prisoners manifest problems of cognitive capacity, literacy and comprehension; their interpersonal skills may be affected by depression and despondency, passivity and withdrawal, and aggressive behaviour. The impact of all of these characteristics on access to justice may be exacerbated in a custodial setting (see Report: Chapter 6). 57. A Grunseit, S Forell, and E McCarron, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, Access to Justice and Legal Needs Volume 5 Taking Justice into custody The Legal Needs of Prisoners July 2008 chapter 4. Full report available at http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/report/prisoners prisoners’ Legal issues 11
2. The Systemic Environment. A range of factors to do with the overall environment can ‘disrupt or impede the ability of inmates to address their legal needs’. These include: insufficient Legal Aid and PLS lawyers to meet the demands for services, especially in rural areas; custodial staff shortages; the frequency of lockdowns; reallocation of DCS staff; a shortage of welfare officers; no internet access (for security reasons); insufficient access to telephones; lack of access to courses (which may affect eligibility for parole); constant transfers of prisoners to other institutions; and the stress associated with transit to and from court (although this is being partly addressed by expanded audio visual links (AVL) (see Report: Chapter 7). 3. Pathways and Intermediaries. ‘In the absence of an ability to act directly, inmates rely to a high degree on other people either to act on their behalf or to be a relay point in the process of preventing, identifying or addressing a legal problem.’ The intermediaries include custodial officers, welfare officers, library/ education staff, inmate peers, and friends and family. Difficulties arise in identifying appropriate intermediaries and pathways to legal assistance; the fact that assistance was seen as a discretionary matter; delays; the development of a relationship of dependence; and variable quality in the information, advice and assistance provided by intermediaries (see Report: Chapter 8). 4. Prison Culture can affect prisoners’ capacity and willingness to access justice. For example where an ‘Us versus Them’ inmate code, sometimes referred to as ‘green’ (inmates’ uniform) v ‘blue’ (officers’ uniform) is in force, reporting to prison authorities matters such as assault or sexual assault can be hazardous and lead to being stigmatised as a ‘dog’ or informer. This can cast suspicion over any approach to prison officers for assistance including with legal issues. Another aspect of culture is the acceptance of violence as integral to prison life and as a solution to conflict. The normalisation of violence leads to significant under reporting, trivialisation and ‘rationalises a lack of resort to formal processes of legal redress’. Forms of inmate subjectivity, notions of being seen as ‘undeserving’, ‘criminal’ or ‘guilty’ can operate to ‘validate prejudicial treatment’ and ‘de-motivate the inmate to act on future legal issues’. Finally the formal culture of the prison encourages compliance and passivity in inmates which undermines the persistence, independence and skills required to face up to and resolve legal issues. prisOners And THe mediA Media treatment of prisons tends to fluctuate between sensationalist exploitation of public fears and fascination with notorious prisoners and their crimes, reformist critiques of prison conditions, and largely ignoring image unavailable Razor wire fence at Fremantle prison, WA. Roel Loopers. 12 HOT TOPICS 67 > Prisoners
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Prisoners - Legal Information Access Centre - NSW Government

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