The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently declared, in Claes v Belgium, the treatment of mentally disabled persons in Belgian prisons to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court held that there was a violation of Article 3 (prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading treatment) as well as Articles 5(1) and 5(4) (protecting the right to liberty and security and the right to have the lawfulness of detention decided speedily).
Mr Claes had been detained for over 15 years in a prison psychiatric wing. The applicant spent time from 1978 - 1994 between a prison psychiatric wing and a private psychiatric clinic. In 1994, following incidents involving young girls and female staff in the psychiatric hospital, the Mental Health Board ordered him to return to the psychiatric wing of a prison.
The Court found that the authorities had not provided the applicant with adequate care and that he had been subjected to degrading treatment as a result. The Court highlighted existing structural problems, namely an inability to afford appropriate care to persons with mental disorders who were held in prison due to the lack of places in psychiatric clinics elsewhere.
Click here to read the judgment (in French)
Click here to read a summary of the case
Meanwhile in Ireland, a new system for investigating prisoner complaints has been introduced through the amendment of prison rules. PILA Bulletin readers may recall the announcement of the amendment on 8 August 2012. The new rules came into effect on 14 January 2013 and have been welcomed by the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT). The amendments provide for prisoner complaints to be examined by investigators from outside the prison service to ensure an impartial investigation. A panel of 22 external investigators has been recruited to deal with the implementation of the new procedures. The first priority for the new system is to deal with the most serious complaints (category A) which include assault.
An independent, external complaints mechanism allows for transparency and clarity within the prison services and strives to protect both prison staff and prisoners alike.
IPRT Executive Director Liam Herrick said
“IPRT welcomes these changes, and the recognition by Minister Shatter that Prisoners are “in a particularly vulnerable position” and that they must have access to “a credible complaints system that deals with genuine complaints in an open, transparent, and independent way”.
Click here to read IPRT’s press release