Leigh Day & Co are instructed by
Ray Bewry, an
Independent Monitoring Board Member (IMB) for HMP Norwich, who has today issued judicial review proceedings against the Home Secretary in relation to the refusal of the Prison Service to allow him access to prison records.
Prison visitors
IMB members (previously known as Prison Visitors) are appointed by the Home Secretary for each prison in England and Wales. There are currently over 1800 IMB members in England and Wales attached to over 150 prisons / immigration removal centres. IMB members are required to pay frequent visits to the prison in order to satisfy themselves of the state of the prison premises, the administration of the prison and the treatment of prisoners. Part of their duties include listening to complaints made by individual prisoners and then investigating the issues raised in the complaint.
The Prison Rules 1999 clearly state that, in performing their functions, IMB members "shall have access to the records of the prison”. The Handbook given to IMB members confirms that this information refers to "records which are properly held by the Governor or other officers or staff of the prison in their official capacity”.
Mr Bewry has been an IMB member at HMP Norwich since 2000 and visits the prison approximately 50 times a year. During his time as an IMB member he has investigated numerous complaints made by inmates. In many cases, he has found that the complaint has lacked foundation. However, in a number of cases, he has found that the complaint has been justified and has reported accordingly.
Access to prison records
From November 2004 onwards, Mr Bewry has found it increasingly difficult to access the prison’s security files, including information held on individual inmates. In June 2006, after being threatened with legal action, the Home Secretary confirmed that Mr Bewry would be allowed access to some, but not all, of the security information held by the prison. In August 2006, the Home Secretary confirmed that Mr Bewry would not be allowed access to information relating to covert human intelligence sources (‘CHIS’) (ie information obtained from informants) and that some other non-CHIS information would be "sanitised” before disclosure.
In addition, the Home Secretary has also refused to disclose a copy of the National Security Framework, the instructions issued by the Prison Service to prison staff relating to the procedures that should be followed by prison staff in relation to obtaining, assessing and recording security information, including information from informants. For example, the instructions cover issues such as the particular procedures that need to be followed in relation to the recruitment of vulnerable prisoners as informants and the types of the rewards that should / should not be offered to informants.
Mr Bewry considers that the continuing refusal of the Home Secretary to allow him access to all of the information held by a prison, or even details of the procedures to be followed by prison staff, prevents him from fully carrying out his responsibilities as an IMB member. He is particularly concerned that the procedures relating to the use of informants need to be clearly understood by prison staff and scrupulously followed.
Mr Bewry believes it is particularly important that all information is able to be scrutinised by IMB members in light of the recent report by the Prison Service’s own Anti-Corruption Unit suggesting wide-scale corruption amongst prison officers as well as the very damning recent report by Mr Justice Keith in relation to the racist killing of Zahid Mubarek at Feltham YOI (Young Offender Institution).
Mr Bewry is aware that the information sought is sensitive but does not consider that this should be used as an excuse for it to be withheld. He has been security checked before his appointment as an IMB member and therefore identified as someone who can be trusted with sensitive information. In addition, the Home Secretary has the power to terminate Mr Bewry’s appointment if he failed to perform his responsibilities in a satisfactory manner.
Overall, Mr Bewry considers that rule 79(3) of the Prison Rules allows him to review unsanitised security information including that relating to CHIS and is seeking a declaration from the Court that he, and other IMB members, should be allowed access to this information.
For further information please contact human rights partner
Sean Humber on 020 7650 1200.
Information was correct at time of publishing. See terms and conditions for further details.