Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner - March 2015
a willingness to carry out their work in this area to a good standard but recent cutbacks
and benchmarking has led to an erosion of specialised roles and this work is now often
undertaken by generalised staff who do not have the required experience and knowledge.
11.8 With regard to the Northern Ireland prisons it has been accepted practice that
where Instructions to Governors are absent or deemed to be out of date the Northern
Ireland Prison Service would accept our recommendations based on PSIs issued to
establishments in England and Wales. Last year I reported that this arrangement was
far from ideal and I recommended that the Northern Ireland Prison Service should be
aiming to issue a comprehensive Instruction to Governors to supplement the Northern
Ireland Prison Rules in relation to the interception of prisoners’ communications. To my
knowledge this has not yet happened.
Authorisations to Intercept Prisoners’ Communications
11.9 Necessity. A Governor may make arrangements to intercept a prisoner’s (or class
of prisoners) communications if he believes that it is necessary for one of the purposes
set out in Prison Rules 35A(4) (or Northern Ireland Prison Service Prison Rules 68A(4)).
These are:
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the interests of national security;
the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of crime;
the interests of public safety;
securing or maintaining prison security or good order and discipline in prison;
the protection of health or morals; or
the protection of the rights and freedoms of any person.
11.10 Proportionality. A Governor may only give authority to intercept a prisoner’s (or
class of prisoners) communications if he believes the conduct authorised is proportionate
to what is sought to be achieved by that conduct.
11.11 Types of monitoring. Interception is mandatory in some cases, for example,
high risk or exceptionally high risk Category A prisoners and prisoners on the Escape list.
All other prisoners may be subject to monitoring where the Governor believes that it is
necessary and proportionate for one of the purposes set out in Prison Rules. Monitoring
is conducted on the basis of an interception risk assessment and an authorisation signed
by the Governor. For example, it is often necessary to monitor prisoners for offence
related purposes, for example, those who have been convicted of sexual or harassment
offences or who pose a significant risk to children.
11.12 Communications which are subject to legal privilege are protected and there are
also special arrangements in place for dealing with confidential matters, such as contact
with the Samaritans or a prisoner’s constituency Member of Parliament (MP).
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