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Sunday, July 29, 2007

Outlaw political prisoners

According to the Sunday Telegraph "Prisoners to claim millions for parole delay". However, the story fails to support the headline with any evidence. True, some prisoners are challenging the Parole Board for breaching their human rights for failing to speedily determine whether they should be subjected to continued detention. And, in some cases the prisoners claims are justified and they will be entitled to claim £100 per day, in effect, for false imprisonment. If the system does not get its act together, it could well be that the compensation pay outs will reach the millions. Cooper v The Parole Board is just the latest of several cases which highlights a failing in the system. The problem is not so much about prisoners claiming compensation, rather it is about the Executive sending people to prison when this should be the sole reserve of the Judiciary. In effect, we now have thousands of political prisoners in overcrowded prisons. What is needed is for a courageous High Court judge to make a ruling outlawing the power of the Executive to imprison citizens who have not been the subject of a magistrate's or Crown Court or High Court decision to impose custody.

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