Innovations and Practices

Key to closed doors…

Introduction

For most people in the Commonwealth, the police are quite simply the gatekeepers of the justice enforcement system. Detention centers, which even though form an integral part of this system is also the most shielded from public eye. The impermeability of places where prisoners are kept either in police custody or in detention centres brings in an element of unaccountability to the whole justice system.

To counter this negative perception, laws in many Commonwealth countries provide members of the community with an opportunity to look into the closed doors through the system of visitors. " The system seeks to create a stronger partnership between the police and the community by placing a semblance of accountability and transparency in the detention and custody system, which has been a subject of secrecy and concern for the public at large," said John Woodcock, Police Powers and Procedures, Home Office, UK.

This article will delineate salient features of the Independent Custody Visiting System prevalent in the United Kingdom.

The Start

The idea of 'custody visitors' to police stations was first put forward by Lord Scarman in his report on the Brixton disorders in 1981. Lord Scarman recommended that provision be made for 'random checks' by people other than police officers on the interrogation and detention of suspects in police stations.

In 1983, following consultation between the Home Office, police authorities and chief constables, the Home Office issued a document called: 'Custody Visitors to Police Stations: Guidelines (Provincial Forces)'. The document was intended to 'provide a basis for establishing pilot custody visiting schemes in different police areas.' Initially six pilot schemes were set up, which was then replicated all over the country following its success. The system came to be formally known as lay visiting.

It was in effect from 1April 2003 that lay visiting was given a statutory footing and was termed as the Independent Custody Visiting System.

In Practice

This system provides for trained volunteers of the community to attend police stations to check on the treatment of detainees and the conditions in which they are held and to verify that their rights and entitlements are being correctly observed. It strives to offer protection to both detainees and the police and more importantly reassurance to the community at large that the police are upholding human rights of the detainees.

The Independent Custody Visitors Association, the apex body sets out specific guidelines under which a visitor is appointed. The visitors at the time of appointment should be at least 18 years of age. There is no prescribed upper age limit. The appointments are initially made for three years and reviewed every six months. Visitors, unannounced, can at any time, visit police stations in pairs. They carry out their inspection of custody conditions and talk privately with those detainees who agree to be seen by them.

The responsibility for organising and overseeing the delivery of the system lies with police authorities, in consultation with chief constables. The procedures in place for ensuring effective management of custody visiting include:

• Developing policy to maintain and enhance the effectiveness of schemes,
• Ensuring the maintenance of appropriate organisational arrangements and visiting patterns,
• Overseeing the recruitment, approval and training of independent custody visitors,
• Establishing and maintaining effective systems for feedback to the police authority on a regular basis the output from visits, and putting in place the necessary action to respond to issues as they arise,
• Facilitating meetings of their independent custody visitors to discuss their work and issues arising from it.
  

Making a difference

A very important aspect of this system is the reporting of the visits which is made available to the police authorities at the station visited and subsequently by the Authority for their perusal and follow up. Comments made by the visitors are disseminated to all the other custody visitors with key issues being discussed at the annual meeting.

The system goes a long way in protecting human rights by providing independent scrutiny of the detainees' treatment. By giving approved members of the local community an opportunity to observe, comment and report on these matters, it also seeks to improve citizens' understanding of procedures at police stations. On the other hand, police management of their performance improves thereby resulting in revised functioning and training procedures for the personnel.

However, the system is not without its share of chinks. Research conducted by independent analysts in 2002, revealed that inconsistencies in areas such as administration, recruitment, frequency of visits and training have failed to galvanise the process into a trusted system.

It also remains relatively little known to the public at large and distressingly is not considered to be high priority even within the justice system. A more concerted effort in terms of raising the awareness level is required on part of every stakeholder to make the Independent Visiting System a success, a system which has come about to be recognised as one of the important tools of cultivating a trusted partnership between the police and the public.

Following are the statistics that were collected based on the information recorded by the visitors from 1993-2003. (Source: ICVA)