Prison Law
Our prison law department assists sentenced or remand prisoners with issues that arise during the course of their detention. Louisa Ferrari heads up the Department supported by Dulcie Piff both of whom appear at Parole Board Hearings and Independent Adjudications on a daily basis with an outstanding success rate.
We have one of the busiest Prison Law practices in the south of England and provide representation nationwide.
We offer assistance in the following matters on a publicly funded basis:
- Independent Adjudications: disciplinary proceedings before district judges whereupon up to 42 additional days to serve can be imposed on the offending prisoner;
- Parole Reviews: representing determinate sentence prisoners in proceedings before the Parole Board pertaining to release;
- Licence Recalls: challenging the Decisions of the Ministry of Justice to revoke an individual’s licence by returning him to custody whether by paper review or oral hearing; and
- Sentence Calculations: in appropriate circumstances, challenging the sentence calculation by the Prison Authority and NOMS.
Public funding for advice in relation to matters outside of the above issues is no longer available. However we can provide advice on a privately funded basis usually on a fixed fee on the following matters:
- Re-categorisation Reviews: providing advice and assistance and, where appropriate, providing written representations on the downgrading of categories;
- Home Detention Curfew: in certain cases prisoners are eligible for early release on tag and in such cases we can provide advice and assistance and, where appropriate, providing written representations; and
- Sentence Progression/Planning: assisting serving prisoners access appropriate offending behaviour courses and progress effectively through the prison system.
Furthermore, where appropriate, we can also assist with Judicial Review of decisions on the above issues.
If you or a family member requires advice on a Prison Law issue that is not covered by public funds, please contact Dulcie Piff (d.piff@birds.eu.com) for an estimate of the costs involved. In most cases, we will provide such advice under a fixed fee arrangement so you know how much it is going to cost at the outset.