Looking behind the increase in custodial remand populations

Numbers, rates and proportions of those remanded in custody have increased significantly in recent decades across a range of jurisdictions. In Australia they have doubled since the early 1980s, such that close to one in four prisoners is currently unconvicted. Taking NSW as a case study and drawing on the recent New South Wales Law Reform Commission Report on Bail (2012), this article will identify the key drivers of this increase in NSW, predominantly a form of legislative hyperactivity involving constant changes to the Bail Act 1978 (NSW), changes which remove or restrict the presumption in favour of bail for a wide range of offences. The article will then examine some of the conceptual, cultural and practice shifts underlying the increase. These include: a shift away from a conception of bail as a procedural issue predominantly concerned with securing the attendance of the accused at trial and the integrity of the trial, to the use of bail for crime prevention purposes; the diminishing force of the presumption of innocence; the framing of a false opposition between an individual interest in liberty and a public interest in safety; a shift from determination of the individual case by reference to its own particular circumstances to determination by its classification within pre‐set legislative categories of offence types and previous convictions; a double jeopardy effect arising in relation to people with previous convictions for which they have already been punished; and an unacknowledged preventive detention effect arising from the increased emphasis on risk. Many of these conceptual shifts are apparent in the explosion in bail conditions and the KPI‐driven policing of bail conditions and consequent rise in revocations, especially in relation to juveniles. The paper will conclude with a note on the NSW Government’s response to the NSW LRC Report in the form of a Bail Bill (2013) and brief speculation as to its likely effects.

Bail and remand for young people in Australia : a national research project

Funded and endorsed by the Australasian Juvenile Justice Administrators, this is one of the first national scale research reports into the bail and remand practices for young Australians. A young person can be placed in custody on remand (ie refused bail) after being arrested by police in relation to a suspected criminal offence, before entering a plea, while awaiting trial, during trial or awaiting sentence. Although custodial remand plays an important role in Western criminal justice systems, minimising the unnecessary use of remand is important given the obligations Australia has under several UN instruments to use, as a last resort, youth detention of any kind. This research identifies trends in the use of custodial remand and explores the factors that influence its use for young people nationally and in each of Australia’s jurisdictions.

Submission to the Queensland Department of Communities Review of the Juvenile Justices Act 1992 Issues Paper 2007

This submission addresses the Queensland Government’s Department of Communities Issues Paper regarding the Review of the Juvenile Justice Act 1992 (August 2007). The Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Law has a Criminal Justice Program within the Law and Justice Research Centre. The members of this Program wish to participate in the debate on these issues which are critically important to the Queensland community at large but especially to our young people.

Making the fun stop : youth justice reform in Queensland

In 2013 the newly elected conservative Liberal National Party government instigated amendments to the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld). Boot camps replaced court ordered youth justice conferencing. In 2014 there were more drastic changes, including opening the Children’s Court proceedings to the public, permitting publication of identifying information of repeat offenders, removing the principle of ‘detention as a last resort’, facilitating prompt transferral of 17 year olds to adult prisons and instigating new bail offences and mandatory boot camp orders for recidivist motor vehicle offenders in Townsville. This article compares these amendments to the legislative frameworks in other jurisdictions and current social research. It argues that these amendments are out of step with national and international best practice benchmarks for youth justice. Early indications are that Indigenous children are now experiencing increased rates of unsentenced remand. The article argues that the government’s policy initiatives are resulting in negative outcomes and that early and extensive evaluations of these changes are essential.

Litigation-Generated Science: Why Should We Care?

BACKGROUND: In a 1994 Ninth Circuit decision on the remand of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Judge Alex Kosinski wrote that science done for the purpose of litigation should be subject to more stringent standards of admissibility than other science. OBJECTIVES: We analyze this proposition by considering litigation-generated science as a subset of science involving conflict of interest. DISCUSSION: Judge Kosinski's formulation suggests there may be reasons to treat science involving conflict of interest differently but raises questions about whether litigation-generated science should be singled out. In particular we discuss the similar problems raised by strategically motivated science done in anticipation of possible future litigation or otherwise designed to benefit the sponsor and ask what special treatment, if any, should be given to science undertaken to support existing or potential future litigation. CONCLUSION: The problems with litigation-generated science are not special. On the contrary, they are very general and apply to much or most science that is relevant and reliable in the courtroom setting.

Health problems among detainees in Switzerland: a study using the ICPC-2 classification.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the health status of prisoners in Switzerland. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of the health problems presented by detainees in Switzerland's largest remand prison. METHODS: In this retrospective cross-sectional study we reviewed the health records of all detainees leaving Switzerland's largest remand prison in 2007. The health problems were coded using the International Classification for Primary Care (ICPC-2). Analyses were descriptive, stratified by gender. RESULTS: A total of 2195 health records were reviewed. Mean age was 29.5 years (SD 9.5); 95% were male; 87.8% were migrants. Mean length of stay was 80 days (SD 160). Illicit drug use (40.2%) and mental health problems (32.6%) were frequent, but most of these detainees (57.6%) had more generic primary care problems, such as skin (27.0%), infectious diseases (23.5%), musculoskeletal (19.2%), injury related (18.3%), digestive (15.0%) or respiratory problems (14.0%). Furthermore, 7.9% reported exposure to violence during arrest by the police. CONCLUSION: Morbidity is high in this young, predominantly male population of detainees, in particular in relation to substance abuse. Other health problems more commonly seen in general practice are also frequent. These findings support the further development of coordinated primary care and mental health services within detention centers.

Arrestation et placement en détention avant jugement : points de vue et expériences des justiciables

Ce mémoire a comme objectif d’analyser le vécu des justiciables placés en détention avant jugement. Plus précisément, cette étude se veut préciser ce vécu sur les volets judiciaire et carcéral impliqués dans une mise en détention provisoire. Nous voulons de plus dégager les sentiments issus d’un tel placement. Enfin, nous souhaitions réfléchir sur le recours à la détention avant jugement à travers la perspective d’un modèle de justice basé sur la gestion des risques et sur une logique d’efficience, d’efficacité et de responsabilisation. Pour ce faire, nous avons utilisé l’approche qualitative pour mener vingt-trois entrevues auprès d’hommes et de femmes incarcérés en attente de leur jugement dans quatre établissements de détention du Québec. De ces entretiens, deux thèmes centraux sont ressortis, soit le Vécus carcéral et judiciaire du prévenu, marqué par l’incertitude, l’incompréhension, l’impuissance, la dépendance, les conditions difficiles de détention, les pertes ainsi que l’attente et les Sentiments issus d’une mise en détention provisoire, marqué par la souffrance, l’injustice et l’urgence de sortir de cette situation provisoire. Il ressort de nos analyses que la façon dont est administré le système de justice, l’opinion du public ainsi que les politiques en vigueur ont un impact sur la façon de gérer le recours à la détention provisoire en favorisant tout le contraire de sa mission initiale. Ainsi, la mesure s’en trouve conduite au détriment de l’acteur principal : le prévenu.

L'evoluzione della tutela cautelare nel processo amministrativo

L’effettività della tutela cautelare, intesa come tutela tempestiva, adeguata e piena, è stata la linea cardine dell’evoluzione della giustizia amministrativa, che, nel corso di un periodo durato più di un secolo, grazie all’opera della giurisprudenza e della dottrina, si è strutturata oggi su un vero processo. Approdo recente, e allo stesso tempo, simbolo di questa evoluzione, è sicuramente il Codice del processo amministrativo emanato con il d. lgs. 2 luglio 2010, n. 104. La ricerca, di cui questo contributo costituisce un resoconto, è iniziata contestualmente all’entrata in vigore del nuovo testo, e quindi è stata anche l’occasione per vederne le prime applicazioni giurisprudenziali. In particolare la lettura del Codice, prescindendo da una mera ricognizione di tutto il suo lungo articolato, è stata fatta alla luce di una ponderazione, nell’attualità, non solo del principio di effettività, ma anche del principio di strumentalità che lega tradizionalmente la fase cautelare con la fase di merito. I risultati della ricerca manifestano la volontà del legislatore di confermare questo rapporto strumentale, per fronteggiare una deriva incontrollata verso una cautela dagli effetti alle volte irreversibili, quale verificatasi nell’applicazione giurisprudenziale, ma contestualmente evidenziano la volontà di estendere la portata della tutela cautelare. Guardando a cosa sia diventata oggi la tutela cautelare, si è assistito ad un rafforzamento degli effetti conformativi, tipici delle sentenze di merito ma che si sono estesi alla fase cautelare. I giudici, pur consapevoli che la tutela cautelare non sia una risposta a cognizione piena, bensì sommaria, intendono comunque garantire una tutela tempestiva ed effettiva, anche per il tramite di tecniche processuali particolari, come quella del remand, cui, all’interno della ricerca, viene dedicato ampio spazio. Nella sua ultima parte la ricerca si è focalizzata, sempre volendo guardare in maniera globale agli effetti della tutela cautelare, sul momento dell’esecuzione e quindi sul giudizio di ottemperanza.

Methodological issues in quantifying the magnitude of the tuberculosis problem in a prison population

SETTING: Correctional settings and remand prisons. OBJECTIVE: To critically discuss calculations for epidemiological indicators of the tuberculosis (TB) burden in prisons and to provide recommendations to improve study comparability. METHODS: A hypothetical data set illustrates issues in determining incidence and prevalence. The appropriate calculation of the incidence rate is presented and problems arising from cross-sectional surveys are clarifi ed. RESULTS: Cases recognized during the fi rst 3 months should be classifi ed as prevalent at entry and excluded from any incidence rate calculation. The numerator for the incidence rate includes persons detected as having developed TB during a specifi ed period of time subsequent to the initial 3 months. The denominator is persontime at risk from 3 months onward to the end point (TB or end of the observation period). Preferably, entry time, exit time and event time are known for each inmate to determine person-time at risk. Failing that, an approximation consists of the sum of monthly head counts, excluding prevalent cases and those persons no longer at risk from both the numerator and the denominator. CONCLUSIONS: The varying durations of inmate incarceration in prisons pose challenges for quantifying the magnitude of the TB problem in the inmate population. Recommendations are made to measure incidence and prevalence.

The psychometric properties of a psychosis screen in a correctional setting

Many people who go to gaol are mentally ill. Remandees, prisoner receptions or people in jails have a substantially higher rate of severe mental disorder than other prisoners and the general population. There are no completely satisfactory ways to screen for psychosis and few existing screening questionnaires are available for use in correctional establishments. The Screening Instrument for Psychosis (PS) was developed in the context of the Australian Mental Health Survey: Study of Low Prevalence Disorders. It can help indicate whether a person should be referred to mental health professional for a diagnostic evaluation and possible treatment and/or diversion. We trialled the PS in a high security remand and reception centre. Measures of validity and reliability are reported. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier Inc.