Report to the United Kingdom Government on the Visit to the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man Carried out by the European Commi
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CPT/Inf (2000) 1 Report to the United Kingdom Government on the visit to the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 8 to 17 September 1997 The United Kingdom Government has requested the publication of this report. At the request of the United Kingdom Government, the CPT has decided to omit from the published version of this report certain passages of professional legal advice from the Solicitors Department of the Metropolitan Police, to which its delegation had access, for reasons of legal professional privilege. Strasbourg, 13 January 2000 - 2 - CONTENTS Page Copy of the letter transmitting the CPT'S report..................................................................................4 PREAMBLE .......................................................................................................................................5 I. UNITED KINGDOM................................................................................................................7 A. Introduction...............................................................................................................................7 B. Legal remedies for police misconduct .....................................................................................9 a. preliminary remarks...........................................................................................................9 b. complaints against the police...........................................................................................11 c. criminal proceedings against the police...........................................................................14 d. disciplinary proceedings against the police .....................................................................16 e. civil proceedings against the police.................................................................................19 f. assessment and proposals for action................................................................................23 C. Other police-related issues arising out of the visit ...............................................................28 a. conditions of detention ....................................................................................................28 b. formal safeguards against ill-treatment ...........................................................................28 c. restraint techniques ..........................................................................................................29 D. Prison overcrowding ...............................................................................................................31 E. HMP The Weare - the prison ship.........................................................................................36 a. preliminary remarks.........................................................................................................36 b. ill-treatment / staff-inmate relations ................................................................................36 c. conditions of detention ....................................................................................................37 d. health care........................................................................................................................39 e. contact with the outside world.........................................................................................39 - 3 - II. ISLE OF MAN ........................................................................................................................41 A. Introduction.............................................................................................................................41 B. Isle of Man Prison ...................................................................................................................42 a. preliminary remarks.........................................................................................................42 b. ill-treatment .....................................................................................................................44 c. conditions of detention ....................................................................................................45 - material conditions .................................................................................................45 - activities .................................................................................................................47 d. health care........................................................................................................................50 - preliminary remarks ...............................................................................................50 - staff and facilities ...................................................................................................50 - medical screening on admission.............................................................................51 - caring for the suicidal.............................................................................................52 e. other issues ......................................................................................................................54 - the juvenile unit......................................................................................................54 - contact with the outside world ...............................................................................55 - complaints, disciplinary and inspection procedures...............................................56 C. Isle of Man Constabulary .......................................................................................................59 a. ill-treatment .....................................................................................................................59 b. safeguards against ill-treatment .......................................................................................59 c. conditions of detention ....................................................................................................61 APPENDIX I : SUMMARY OF THE CPT'S RECOMMENDATIONS, COMMENTS AND REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION: UNITED KINGDOM ..................63 APPENDIX II : SUMMARY OF THE CPT'S RECOMMENDATIONS, COMMENTS AND REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION: ISLE OF MAN ............................67 - 4 - Copy of the letter transmitting the CPT'S report Strasbourg, 27 March 1998 Dear Mr Nash, In pursuance of Article 10, paragraph 1, of the European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, I have the honour to enclose herewith the report to the United Kingdom Government drawn up by the European Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CPT) after its visit to the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man from 8 to 17 September 1997. The report was adopted by the CPT at its thirty-fifth meeting held from 9 to 12 March 1998. I would draw your attention in particular to paragraph 4 of the preamble, in which the CPT requests the United Kingdom authorities to provide, within six months, a report on action taken upon its visit report. It would be most helpful if the United Kingdom authorities could provide a copy of their report in a computer-readable form. I am at your entire disposal if you have any questions concerning either the CPT's report or the future procedure. Finally, I would be grateful if you could acknowledge receipt of this letter. Yours faithfully, Ivan ZAKINE President of the European Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Mr Ronald Peter NASH Human Rights Policy Department Foreign and Commonwealth Office GB - LONDON SW1 2AH - 5 - PREAMBLE 1. In pursuance of Article 7 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention"), a delegation of the CPT carried out a visit to the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependency of the Isle of Man from 8 to 17 September 1997. 2. The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT: - Mr Claude NICOLAY, President of the CPT, Head of the delegation - Ms Nadia GEVERS LEUVEN-LACHINSKY - Mr Demetrios STYLIANIDES. They were assisted by: - Ms Odile DIAMANT-BERGER (Head of the Forensic Medical Emergency Service at the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Paris) (expert) - Ms Melanie ROE (interpreter) and accompanied by the following members of the CPT's Secretariat: - Mr Trevor STEVENS (Secretary of the CPT) - Mr Mark KELLY. 3. The visit to the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependency of the Isle of Man was one which the CPT considered to be "required in the circumstances" (cf. Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention). In the light of all the information at its disposal, the Committee concluded that the time had come to carry out a detailed examination of the efficacity of existing legal remedies in cases involving allegations of ill-treatment by police officers in the United Kingdom. The visit also afforded an opportunity to review the measures being taken by the United Kingdom authorities to tackle the growing problem of overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales. As regards the Isle of Man1, the visit focused on conditions of detention in the Crown Dependency's Prison, about which the CPT had recently received critical reports. 1 Which was visited from 12 to 16 September 1998 by a sub-group