Scotland breaking UN rules on prisoner rights, says inspector

Scotland’s jails are breaking the UN’s so-called Nelson Mandela rules on prisoner rights, a watchdog has said.

Sara Snell, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland, appeared before the Criminal Justice Committee at Holyrood on Wednesday for what was its first meeting since the election and its last before the summer recess.

In recent years, the prison estate has struggled with overcrowding issues, leading to concerns about the welfare of inmates as well as the ability to deliver programmes which would reduce reoffending.

Ms Snell was asked by SNP MSP David Linden if Scotland is at risk of breaching the “Nelson Mandela rules” – a set of basic standards which include access to medical care, a ban on cruel punishment, a need for independent oversight, and limits on solitary confinement.

As the most recent prison population figure sat at 8,515, despite an operating capacity of 8,007, Ms Snell replied: “I’m afraid you aren’t at risk, you are (breaching the rules).

“In that report we find, and we’re still finding, for example, convicted prisoners who are sharing cells with remand prisoners, when there’s an absolute requirement to keep people separate.

“There are times where people are having to make choices that they shouldn’t be having to make, like time in the fresh air, getting their medication, finishing their meal – all of those are happening in a very tightly pressured time arena.

“One of the things we would point to always is just people sharing cell space that was designed barely for one and now there’s two men.”

The biggest issue facing the prison estate, the inspector said, is the level of overcrowding, with jails sometimes feeling like “one big segregation unit”.

The Scottish Government and the Scottish Prison Service have been contacted for comment.