Legitimate Grievance - A Report on the Role of the Ombudsman in the Prison System

• NCJ Number: 101759
• Author(s): G Wener
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 28 pages
• Corporate Author: American Samoa Territorial Criminal Justice Planning Agency
• Sale Source: Prison Reform Trust
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

Instead of using the current British Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the ombudsman) to deal with prisoner grievances, a special ombudsman for prisons should be established to investigate complaints of inmate maltreatment.

Abstract

The current British Parliamentary Commission for Administration was established in 1967 to investigate only (but not all) complaints against administrative authorities for which a minister is answerable to Parliament. Only a member of the House of Commons, acting on a citizen complaint of maladministration by public officials can prompt an investigation. Since the inception of the office, the commissioner has averaged only five complaints annually from prisoners, far fewer than the number investigated by ombudsmen in other countries, due principally to these requirements. A special ombudsman free to investigate all complaints of prisoner maltreatment, however received and whether or not the cause of the grievance is maladministration, is suggested. 5-item select bibliography.