PSO 4630 - Inside Time

PSO 4630 Page 17(b)(c)All prisons must inform prisoners on first reception of their right to consularnotification. This must be done by the first receiving establishment and must be recordedon the prisoner‟s record.Nationals of those countries with a Bilateral Convention (see Annex M), whether or not thecountry in question is also a signatory to the Vienna ConventionPrisons must notify embassies upon first reception of nationals of a country where abilateral Consular Convention has been signed, and provide all appropriate information.Those countries who have signed the Vienna Convention but where no bilateral consularconvention is in place. (see Annex N)In the absence of a request from a prisoner to have his/her embassy informed,prisons must not pass on the prisoner‟s details to his/her embassyWhere a foreign embassy requests information on a prisoner or prisoners theprisoners‟ permission for details to be released must be secured by prison staff beforeinformation is disclosedIf the prisoner refuses then the prison must inform the embassy of the prisoners‟right of anonymity under Article 36(1)(c) of the Convention.The only exception is where a consular official is detained. Under thesecircumstances prisons must inform the Embassy either through the consulate or throughdiplomatic channels.Individual Bilateral Consular Agreements18.8 The United Kingdom has signed forty bilateral consular agreements with foreign countries.If you receive a national of the countries in Annex M, you must inform their embassy onreception or as soon as possible. The prisoner cannot block the disclosure of details.Prisons must notify embassies of nationals of a country where a bilateral ConsularConvention has been signed, upon first reception. This must be done as soon as practicallypossible once nationality has been established. This must be recorded in the F2050 CoreRecord.Prisons must declare “all appropriate information”. This will include; Full Name, Date ofBirth, Location, Prison Number, Offence and Sentence Length (where available).18.9 The attached letter (Annex P) should be sent to the Embassy when a prisoner who claimsto be from one of these countries is received into the prison. The acknowledgement sliponce received back into the prison should be copied to CCD and filed on the prisoner‟sF2050.Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963)18.10 If you receive a national from any other country you must inform him/her of the right to haveaccess to his/her embassy. However you must only disclose information to the embassy ifthe prisoner has given you permission to do so. If the prisoner does not want the embassyto be informed you must respect his/her right to anonymity. If you receive a request forinformation (i.e. whether you have any of their nationals in custody) from an Embassy of acountry which has only signed the Vienna Convention, you should refer it to Offender PolicyRights Unit.18.11 In the absence of a request from a prisoner to have his/her embassy informed, prisonsmust not pass on the prisoner‟s details to his/her embassy (except in cases where theUnited Kingdom has signed a Bilateral Consular Convention with the country of origin ofthat prisoner).Issue No 287 Issue date 11/01/08