Justice does not stop at the prison gate

• ISBN: 978-1-911114-52-9

• Published: 2020

• Pages: 10

• Publisher: The Howard League for Penal Reform

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Justice does not stop at the prison gate

The briefing explores how rule-breaking in prisons in England and Wales is managed through formal disciplinary hearings, known as adjudications, where prisoners can be given punishments including solitary confinement and additional days of imprisonment.

Illustrated with anonymised case-studies from the Howard League’s legal work representing hundreds of children and young adults in prison, the briefing shows how adjudications have been used increasingly and unnecessarily as an everyday behaviour management tool – leading to punitive and arbitrary outcomes.

The briefing states that there is an overwhelming case for abolishing the imposition of additional days of imprisonment, which totalled more than 337,000 in 2019. This would bring England and Wales in line with Scotland, where the practice was ended to positive effect almost 20 years ago.

The Howard League’s programme on justice and fairness in prisons seeks to create a blueprint to establish what a just prison would look like, eliminate everyday unfairness in prison, and implement fair and restorative approaches