Prisoners' Advice Service

Last updated
Prisoners' Advice Service
Type NGO
3180659
Registration no.1054495
Location
  • PO Box 46199 London EC1M, UK
Area served
England & Wales
Revenue
charitable donations
Website www.prisonersadvice.org.uk

Prisoners' Advice Service (PAS) is a London-based registered charity in England and Wales that provides free, confidential legal advice and representation to prisoners regarding their rights, the application of prison rules and conditions of imprisonment.

The charity takes up prisoners' complaints about their treatment inside prison by providing free advice and taking legal action where appropriate. PAS provides assistance on an individual and confidential basis, taking legal action where appropriate.

PAS was set up in 1991 by organisations working with prisoners, including Liberty, the Howard League for Penal Reform and Nacro. Due to increasing demand for legal advice, a new charitable organisation was required to deal with the large number of requests for legal advice that they were receiving from prisoners. [1]

The organisation runs the Prisoners' Legal Rights, which produces a quarterly bulletin entitled Prisoners' Rights. Membership includes prisoners, solicitors, barristers, academics and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">His Majesty's Prison Service</span> Government service managing most of the prisons within England and Wales

His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service, which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison reform</span> Reform of the prison system

Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes.

Justice is a human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is the British section of the International Commission of Jurists, the international human rights organisation of lawyers devoted to the legal protection of human rights worldwide. Consequently, members of Justice are predominantly barristers and solicitors, judges, legal academics, and law students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Ramsbotham, Baron Ramsbotham</span> British Army general (1934–2022)

General David John Ramsbotham, Baron Ramsbotham, was a British Army officer, who later served as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. He was awarded a life peerage in 2005, and later sat on the crossbenches of the House of Lords.

The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, following a merger with the Penal Reform League. The charity focuses on penal reform in England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Crook</span> British prison reform campaigner

Frances Crook OBE is the former Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, the oldest penal reform charity in the United Kingdom.

The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punishments than on traditional prison reform issues. Founding members included Sir Monty Finniston and Veronica Linklater.

Nacro is a social justice charity based in England and Wales, established in 1966 from the previous National Association of Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Societies, it became the largest criminal justice-related charity in England and Wales. In the 1970s Nacro also became involved in policy discussions with the British Government, particularly with the Home Office, which has responsibility for prisons and probation services. Since 2011, its strategy has focused on extending its high-level influence at government level, with commissioners, policy makers and practitioners, and increasing its partnership work.

Penal Reform International, founded in London in 1989, is an international nongovernmental organization working on penal and criminal justice reform worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">We Are With You</span> UK mental health and substance abuse charity

We Are With You is a British charity founded in 1967 that supports people to make positive behavioural changes, most notably with alcohol and drug misuse, and mental health. The charity works extensively throughout England and Scotland, with an administrative base in Farringdon, central London. Previously named Addaction, it changed its name to We Are With You in February 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prisoners Abroad</span>

Prisoners Abroad is a UK-registered human rights and welfare charity which supports British citizens who are imprisoned overseas. It also works with ex-prisoners returning to the UK and family members and friends of those detained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison Advice and Care Trust</span> UK charity that provides services for prisoners and their families

The Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) is an independent UK charity that provides practical services for prisoners and prisoners' families. First established as the Catholic Prisoners Aid Society in 1898, Pact works at several prisons across England and Wales.

A community legal centre (CLC) is the Australian term for an independent not-for-profit organisation providing legal aid services, that is, provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. They provide legal advice and traditional casework for free, primarily funded by federal, state and local government. Working with clients who are mostly the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in Australian society, they also work with other agencies to address related problems, including financial, social and health issues. Their functions may include campaigning for law reform and developing community education programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison</span> Institution in which people are legally physically confined

A prison, also known as a jail, gaolpenitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are confined against their will and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state, generally as punishment for various crimes. Authorities most commonly use prisons within a criminal-justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those who have pled or been found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment.

The Howard League for Penal Reform Canterbury is an organisation based in Christchurch, New Zealand, that lobbies for prison reform and works in Canterbury prisons. It is based on the British Howard League for Penal Reform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justice Action</span> Australian not-for-profit organization

Justice Action is a not-for-profit community organisation based in Sydney, Australia. Justice Action focuses on abuses of authority in the criminal justice and mental health systems in Australia. Founded in 1979 as Prisoner Action, Justice Action is independent of the Australian government and is funded by voluntary donations and the work of the social enterprise, Breakout Media Communications. Justice Action's coordinator is Brett Collins, an ex-prisoner who began with the organisation in 1979 as co-founder. Alongside Collins, Justice Action is run by a team of interns who are university students in law and other degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizens Advice Edinburgh</span> Scottish charity

Citizens Advice Edinburgh (CAE), is a registered charity, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1939, Citizens Advice Edinburgh is a member of the Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, and provides free, confidential, independent and impartial advice to Edinburgh residents.

Criminal justice reform seeks to address structural issues in criminal justice systems such as racial profiling, police brutality, overcriminalization, mass incarceration, and recidivism. Criminal justice reform can take place at any point where the criminal justice system intervenes in citizens’ lives, including lawmaking, policing, and sentencing.

Lady Edwina Louise Snow is an English criminologist, philanthropist and prison reformer. She is a founder and a trustee of the charity The Clink, and founder of the charity One Small Thing. She is the sister of Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.

Just for Kids Law is a London-based charity which provides advocacy, legal and youth opportunities services to children and young people, as well as campaigning for wider reform to benefit children and young people living in the United Kingdom. Since its foundation in 2006 by youth justice lawyers Aika Stephenson and Shauneen Lambe, the organisation has received particular renown for its work in strategic litigation, securing significant changes to the law on issues such as the treatment of 17-year-olds in police custody, the eligibility of young migrants for student finance, the law of joint enterprise, and the disclosure of youth cautions and reprimands on DBS certificates. The organisation is also known for its approach to youth advocacy support, with an independent evaluation by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations Charities Evaluation Service noting the "numerous positive benefits" of the charity's casework model.

References

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/may/07/legal [ dead link ]
  2. "Prisoners' Advice Service". Archived from the original on 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2011-02-26.