In a new initiative led by the Criminal Justice Project team based at Kent Law Clinic, free prison law advice is now being offered to prisoners in the local community.
Working in collaboration with national charity, the Prisoners’ Advice Service, and led by Law Clinic Solicitor Lucy Welsh, a team of approximately 20 student volunteers in the Criminal Justice Project has begun operating a letters clinic to assist prisoners who have problems relating to their rights.
The provision of prison law advice was dropped by many law firms across the UK following cutbacks to legal aid. Lucy believes there are currently no firms offering a prison law advice service in East Kent: ‘This service will allow students to gain an in depth understanding of issues for prisoners while also being able to quickly provide assistance to vulnerable people in state funded institutions that have suffered their own significant cutbacks. It is hoped that working with national charitable organisations such as the Prisoners’ Advice Service will enable our students to develop a greater understanding of social welfare issues generally as well as provide a much needed public service.’
Issues the team expects to be dealing with include matters relating to prison discipline (with the possibility that this might include attendance at disciplinary hearings in prison), issues relating to licence conditions, visiting rights, issues involving categorisation of prisoners, and applications for parole.
Student volunteers will be appointed by Lucy to undertake research on enquiries coming in to the Clinic and will work with Lucy to draft an appropriate response within a short timeframe.
As well as promoting the service locally, by inviting Prison Governors to put up posters, the team is liaising with the Prisoners’ Advice Service and hopes to support its national letters clinic.
In an explanatory post written for the Kent Law Clinic blog, Clinical, Lucy writes: ‘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.’
The Criminal Justice Project (CJP) is a staff and student initiative in the Kent Law Clinic, comprising a supervising clinic solicitor, solicitor’s assistant, student directors and a number of team leaders each having a team of students. The CJP was first formed as the Criminal Appeals Team and was begun by a number of students in 2006.