As anyone interested in access to justice knows,
recent changes to legal aid have made the provision of numerous areas of law outside the scope of publicly funded representation. One such area to have been affected is prison law, and there is now an ever expanding advice desert for those who are incarcerated at the mercy of state agencies which have themselves suffered huge cutbacks. Prisons are overcrowded (and have been for years) with no sign of numbers reducing. At the same time, staff numbers and the availability of other resources have been reduced. These factors add to an already volatile environment which, despite some views expressed in the popular press, contains some very vulnerable members of society indeed. One needs only to consider recent reports on deaths in prisons or prison protests to realise the extent of these difficulties. Problems in Kent appear to be particularly acute according to a BBC news report.
To that end, the Criminal Justice Project at Kent Law Clinic has begun to take enquiries to assist prisoners with problems relating to their rights and parole matters. It also hopes to be working with the Prisoners Advice Service, which is an independent charity providing advice and representation to prisoners. Its website can be found at http://www.prisonersadvice.org.uk/.
Kent Law Clinic sees this as an opportunity to further its object of providing free legal advice, information and representation to local people unable to afford the services of a solicitor in an area which needs intervention. It is also a great opportunity for students to learn not only about the realities of prison life but also about the effect of policy making on the institutions of the criminal justice system. It seems that there is much to be gained from recognising the problems that exist in prisons, and the members of the Criminal Justice Project look forward to assisting as much as possible.