Clause 47 - Transfer of UK prisoner to assist investigation abroad
Crime (International Co-operation) Bill [Lords]
2:45 pm
Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I am rather disappointed in that response, because clearly a prisoner is in a different situation from other individuals in the country; he is in a prison, where he does not have free access to the same facilities as someone who is not in a prison. My amendment does not say that prisoners must be given legal advice; it says that they must have access to it. In other words, a prisoner should not be debarred from seeking legal advice before signing the important consent. That is a fundamental issue for a prisoner who is not entirely a free agent—at least, I hope that he is not, because if he is, prison would not be serving its useful function. A prisoner cannot make an informed consent if he does not at least have access to legal advice, regardless of whether he avails himself of it.
I am disappointed that the Minister has prayed in aid, clearly on advice, the different circumstances of the earlier clause that apply to a person offering to give evidence over a telephone. She was not referring to a person being taken to a different jurisdiction, which is covered by the clause, nor his movement and actions being restricted because he was a prisoner. It was not an analogous case.
I had expected the Minister to say that, of course, under the British Prison Service, there would be no question of a prisoner not having access to legal advice in circumstances in which he was being asked to consent to being taken to a foreign jurisdiction to assist with an investigation. I also expected her to say
that it was unnecessary for such matters to be written into the Bill, because such action is the invariable practice of the British Prison Service. I would have then asked her to put such a provision in the Bill because it would be an additional safeguard if a change came about in British prison practice. However, the fact that she did not say that worries me greatly.