2013 Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner
Inspection Regime
7.13 Objectives of Inspections. The primary objectives of our inspections are to
ensure that:
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All interception is carried out lawfully and in accordance with the Human
Rights Act (HRA) and the Prison Rules made under the Prison Act 1952 or
section 13 of the Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953;
All prisons are fully discharging their responsibilities to inform the prisoners
that their communications may be subject to interception;
There is consistency in the approach to interception work in prisons;
The proper authorisations and risk assessments are in place to support the
monitoring of prisoners telephone calls and mail;
Appropriate measures are being afforded to the retention, storage and
destruction of intercept product.
7.14 Number of inspections. The 8 full time inspectors undertake the prison
inspections. In 2013 our office conducted 88 prison inspections which equates to
approximately two thirds of the establishments.
7.15 The length of each inspection depends on the category and capacity of
the prison being inspected. The majority of the inspections take place over 1 day.
Inspections of the larger capacity or high security (Category A) prisons may take place
over 2 days.
7.16 Examination of systems and procedures for the interception of prisoners’
communications. Our prison inspections are structured to ensure that key areas
derived from Prison Rules, the relevant PSIs and policies are scrutinised. A typical
inspection includes examination of the following areas:
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Induction and awareness of prisoners;
Procedures for the monitoring prisoners’ telephone calls and mail (including
risk assessments, authorisations, monitoring logs);
Arrangements for the handling of legally privileged and other confidential
telephone calls and mail;
Procedures for the storage, retention and destruction of intercept material.
7.17 Inspection Reports. The reports contain a review of compliance against a
strict set of baselines that derive from Prison Rules and other policy documents. They
contain formal recommendations with a requirement for the prison to report back
within two months to say that the recommendations have been implemented, or what
progress has been made.
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