(13 October 2022)

Head of Immigration and Public Law spoke with Emma Birchley of Sky News for the urgent need for legal reform to ensure Foreign National Prisoners are provided access to legal representation.

Speaking about HM Chief Inspector of Prison’s report, published today, Dr Chelvan said:

• "We know from the report that nearly 50% of those interviewed don't have access to legal representation. That cannot happen," 
• "We need a change in culture. We need a change in policy decision making."
• "When somebody is identified as a victim of torture or somebody who's been trafficked, they will be given specific care including being released from detention," 
• "Because there's no parallel effective mechanism in the prison service, these victims of torture are detained. This is wrong."

Read the on-line Sky article here. 

HM Inspector of Prisons report “The experience of immigration detainees in prison” can be found here. 

See clip from Sky News below: