SILVER AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT
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(c) Correspondence with Consular and Commonwealth officials
34.
Prisoners who were foreign nationals or citizens of the Irish
Republic or a Commonwealth country were free to communicate with the
accredited representatives of their countries in the United Kingdom, subject
to the restrictions on contents mentioned at paragraphs 41-47 below.
(d) Correspondence with certain organisations
35. Under Order 5A 31(2) b., a prisoner could, without first seeking
leave from the Home Secretary or the prison governor, write to the National
Council for Civil Liberties, "Justice", "Release" or the Howard League for
Penal Reform to seek legal advice about his conviction and sentence, or
about general matters. He could, in addition, write to these organisations to
ask for legal proceedings to be instituted and, although originally he could
not seek legal advice from them about any matter relating to his prison
treatment, this was subsequently allowed by Instruction 38/1977, subject
however to the "prior ventilation rule" (see paragraph 47 below). In the two
latter cases, however, the prisoner had first to follow the procedures
introduced by Instruction 45/1975 and then enshrined in Order 17A
(application to the governor for facilities; see paragraph 32 above).
Correspondence in this category was otherwise subject to the restrictions
on contents mentioned at paragraphs 41-47 below.
(e) Applications to the European Commission of Human Rights
36. Special provisions applied to applications to the Commission; in
particular, the Home Secretary’s leave was required neither for their
submission nor for correspondence with legal advisers relative thereto, and
the "prior ventilation rule" did not apply.
2. Position with effect from 1 December 1981
37. Most of the restrictions which the earlier Orders and Instructions
contained on the identity of correspondents have now been abolished.
Although the relevant Rules have not themselves been amended, the revised
Orders (nos. 5B23-5B30) state that, provided the provisions concerning the
contents of correspondence (see paragraph 48 below) are observed, a
prisoner may communicate with any person or organisation, subject to
certain exceptions of which the principal are:
(a) recipients of correspondence (other than spouses) who have requested
that no further letters be sent;
(b) other prisoners, who are not relatives, where there is reason to believe
that correspondence would seriously impede rehabilitation or where the
prevention of communication is desirable in the interests of security or good
order or discipline;