Prison Law

What happens at the police station can often be the crucial factor to whether you are charged with a criminal offence, taken to court, and found guilty or not after a trial. It’s therefore vital that you instruct a very experienced lawyer from the outset of your case at the police station. Our criminal lawyers have years of experience and will use it to guide you carefully through the police station process.

Our Prison Law Department has a well-earned reputation for its extensive breadth of knowledge and considerable experience across the full spectrum of prison law related matters. We provide legal advice and representation to sentenced prisoners and those on licence and have particular expertise in Life Sentenced prisoners and prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for Public Protection (IPPs).

As members of The Criminal Appeal Solicitors Association, we represent both prisoners and their families. We are especially active in the representation of long-termers or lifers. We have a high success rate for Adjudications before the Independent Adjudicator (IA) and Parole Board Oral Hearings. Such is the effect of our work that it has resulted in restrictions on politicians’ power to decide what length of time the term of life imprisonment should carry in individual cases and the requirement that serious adjudications should not be dealt with by a prison governor.

We are able to investigate the availability of public funding (legal aid) or other means of funding such as Legal Expense Insurance.

What do we cover?

  • Recall
  • Adjudications before the Judge
  • Parole Board Hearings
  • Sentence Calculation
  • Supporting prisoners through the parole process
  • Providing representation, especially at disciplinary hearings
  • Representing families who are party to coroners’ inquests (whether relating to deaths in police, prison custody or other circumstances