This is a thread about an important High Court judgment which was handed down yesterday. It concerns the decision of Dominic Raab to try to control the conduct of parole proceedings and to prescribe how his officials provide evidence to the Parole Board. Dominic Raab is Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He is under investigation for several bullying complaints during different ministerial posts. Coverage of this is more prevalent than coverage of his performance in his current role. This is about the latter.

Dear @RishiSunak

Congratulations on your appointment by your colleagues as our Prime Minister. I listened to your speech earlier. You said your government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. You also used the word compassion. 1/4 I note that you have reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. She resigned after 6 days for breaching her ministerial code. She also described the transportation of vulnerable asylum seekers as her dream. Why have you appointed her? Was it for her compassion and integrity?

Another day, another depressing report. This relates to people detained in prison under immigration powers (after prison sentences have ended). These are the headlines of this important report.

THREAD

https://twitter.com/laurajanes_uk/status/1580447816375148544

1. Many immigration detainees held in prisons for long periods despite minimal progress in their cases. There was little prospect of removal within a reasonable period for many & some stayed in prison after release was agreed in principle because of a lack of accommodation.

I wanted to share some details of a case my excellent colleague @Parole_Lawyer acted in. It illustrates quite how much effort and skill is often required to secure the release of an IPP prisoner. THREAD Emma acted for an IPP prisoner who had found himself recalled for approaching 10 years following allegations which had been dropped. He maintained his innocence in relation to these allegations. Successive Parole Board Panels had continued to rely on these unproven allegations.

A Friday evening shout out for my brilliant @sl5legal colleague @legally_yasmin. Yasmin joined us in the summer. This is a short thread about Yasmin's recent achievements for her clients. This has been one of the hardest periods I have known for people representing prisoners. Yasmin has risen to the challenges of a dealing with a succession of bewildering and infuriating ‘innovations' by the now departed Justice Secretary.

This morning's thread is about HMP Woodhill, a high security prison based near Milton Keynes. You may well find this distressing. I find it extremely distressing. I have a client who has been at Woodhill for over three years. He is serving an IPP sentence. He expected to serve 4 years. He has served over 10 so far. He was moved to Woodhill to complete a programme which he was told he would start within a short time.

A thread this morning to illustrate the state of a particular prison. This one is HMP Swaleside, a large category B prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. This thread focuses on visits. Social visits are extremely important to prisoners and their families. Legal visits are essential if you are instructed to represent a prisoner in legal proceedings. Swaleside offers the same two hour slot for social and legal visits on three afternoons each week.

My colleagues @PrisonLawyrsAPL and @WeAreLAPG together with @TheHowardLeague and @PrisonersAdvice have withdrawn our engagement with the Parole Board User Group. This letter explains our reasons. This action is not aimed at The Parole Board. It is to highlight the Justice Secretary’s decision to decline any increase in legal aid funding for parole and other prison law work.

A quick thread this morning about legal aid lawyers who act for prisoners. If you have been imprisoned, know anyone who has been in prison or you are one of those all-round decent sorts who cares, you may agree that access to decent legal representation matters. The men, women & children in prison are disproportionately affected by mental illness, deprivation & trauma. This is not offered as an excuse for harm they have caused but does mean that many are vulnerable and face serious challenges surviving & getting their lives back on track

I’m probably going to regret this but here is a long thread about the Parole Board decision in Tracy Connelly's case. This is a difficult case which arouses very strong feelings. It's understandable that people are troubled by it. I hope most people would agree that there are good reasons that we have a legal system. Decisions about parole are part of a legal/judicial process. Sentencing and parole are different things.

My longest serving IPP client received his parole decision letter yesterday. 4 years after his current parole review began, 16 years after he was first remanded in custody and 14 years after his minimum term of less than 2 years expired, he is finally being released from prison. He is autistic. His behaviour is challenging. He is sometimes a difficult person to work with. But this does not justify the amount of time he has been incarcerated.

Today’s @Telegraph front page on ‘tough new sentencing’ is a masterclass in poor journalism. Here’s why. THREAD The claim that ‘for the first time, murderers of pre-school children will be subject to whole life orders…’ is factually wrong. As @BarristerSecret has emphasised, whole life orders have been the starting point for this offence since 2003 (Sch21 para 4(2)(b) CJ Act 2003)