Human Rights and Prisons

4. Material Conditions

Material conditions are very important to the prisoner experience. After all, during incarceration, prisoners lose the ability to influence matters that greatly affect their well-being and health, including their access to fresh air, food, water, sanitary facilities, heating or decent clothing (Nowak, 2009).

Law and policy framework

The Corrections Act 2005 details its compliance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Sections 70 to 78 of the Act establish the minimum entitlements that prisoners can expect. These include:

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  Physical exercise – at least one hour per day in the open air, weather permitting;
  

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  A separate bed/mattress and sufficient clean bedding for warmth, health and reasonable comfort;
  

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  Food and drink – a sufficient quantity of wholesome food and drink (based on the food and nutritional guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and drinking water standards); as far as practicable, allowing for religious, spiritual, medical and cultural needs;
  

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  Access to private visitors – at least one private visitor per week for a minimum of 30 minutes (all visitors are to be approved through an application process);
  

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  Access to statutory visitors and specified visitors – which include Inspectors, Ombudsmen or Visiting Justices, consular representatives, MPs and members of the Human Rights Commission;
  

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  Access to legal advisors – they may visit at any time; if the proposed time is unsuitable, the manager must nominate a reasonable, alternative time; interviews must be out of hearing of others and (with prison manager’s agreement) out of sight of others;
  

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  Medical treatment – entitled to receive medical treatment that is reasonably necessary; the standard of health care must be reasonably equivalent to that available to the public;
  

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  To send and receive mail – may send/receive as much mail as prisoner wishes, subject to some restrictions;
  

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  To make outgoing telephone calls – at least one outgoing call of up to five minutes per week, at prisoner’s own expense;
  

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  Access to information and education – to have reasonable access to news; access to library services as far as practicable; access to education that will assist in rehabilitation or reintegration.
  

The denial of minimum entitlements can be made in the following circumstances:

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  In the event of an emergency, security threat or threat to health/safety of any person (s69(2));
  

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  When prisoners are subject to cell confinement or segregation orders (s69(4)). While in cell confinement, prisoners may be denied the right: to private visitors, to make telephone calls, to use other forms of communication, and to access information or education;
  

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  When prisoners are detained in police cells. Entitlements – to exercise, private visitors, mail, phone calls, other forms of communication, and information / education – may be denied due to the facilities and resources available (s69(3)).
  

In addition, a prisoner has no legitimate expectation of being provided with similar accommodation conditions or programme opportunities throughout their detention (r196). The conditions of detention are subject to institutional discretion and change.

4.1 Accommodation

Law and policy framework

The Prison Service Operations Manual (PSOM, F.02) attends to Cell Standards. This Policy sets out how cells must be maintained, and the items that are allowable within individual cells.
As far as practicable, prisoners must be accommodated in individual cells. Exceptions to this regulation (r66) can be made if the cell used is designed and equipped to accommodate more than one person (r66(3)). Exceptions can also be made if the manager believes that the sharing of cells will facilitate prison management, or it is necessary to relieve a temporary shortage of accommodation, or to assist in an emergency of any kind. A 2009 amendment to the regulations has provided for greater use of cell sharing in circumstances where a single cell is not reasonably available and in accordance with instructions issued by the Chief Executive (r66(2A)).
A Shared Accommodation Cell Risk Assessment (SACRA) process has been developed by the Department to manage the placement of prisoners in shared cells. Chief Executive’s Instructions are also currently being drafted.

Issues

The accommodation for prisoners in New Zealand is greatly varied. Some of the older prisons have been subject to stinging criticisms. For example, the Ombudsmen’s Office (2005:25) stated that prison conditions ‘in all older higher security units are extremely cramped and cannot be described as pleasant in any sense’. A 2009 report for the Corrections Association, described conditions in Auckland prison as ‘putrid’ and stated that Mount Eden was ‘archaic’ (NZPA, 2009). As the Department of Corrections (2008:22) has already identified, a proportion of the prison estate is approaching, or has reached, the point of obsolescence, ‘some facilities can no longer be regarded as fit for purpose, with some being at risk of non-compliance with relevant building standards’. In 2009, 1,170 prison beds were officially considered to be obsolete, with around 1,700 beds expected to become obsolete by 2016 (Collins, 2009). The Corrections Association estimates that 1,500-1,800 cells are currently obsolete. Newer prisons will undoubtedly provide modern, and often light-filled, spaces for prisoners, however they have also faced criticisms on account of double-bunking issues.
One might argue that, given recent claims that double-bunking aggravates conflict within the prison (cf Franklin et al, 2006), effective prison management is not facilitated by current double-bunking⁶. Burgeoning numbers can also negatively impact upon prisoners’ opportunities to access programmes, workshops, activities, services, and so on. This can further aggravate problems of isolation or mental health concerns. Overall, it is clear that prisoner accommodation, and the impact of increased prisoner numbers, need to be continually monitored. The use of double-bunking – and how such practices impact upon prisoners and staff – also needs to be carefully evaluated over time.