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Legal implications of smoking (bans) in English prisons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2019

Elise Maes
Elise Maes*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, St Peter's College, University of Oxford, UK
*
*Author email: elise.maes@law.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

The high prevalence of tobacco smoking in prison, and certain aspects inherent in prison culture make smoking in that environment particularly difficult to regulate. Over the last decade, the UK government has adopted and sought to implement gradually its plan to make all prisons smoke-free nationwide. The UK Supreme Court recently ruled in Black that the Health Act 2006, which prohibits smoking in most enclosed public spaces, does not bind the Crown and consequently does not apply to public prisons. Both developments have implications for the human rights protection of smoking and non-smoking prisoners. This paper considers how English smoking and non-smoking prisoners’ (human) rights are currently protected, and what the legal implications are of a complete ban on smoking in English prisons. The paper reflects on whether an indoor smoking ban might strike a better balance between the competing rights and interests of smoking and non-smoking prisoners than a complete ban.

Keywords

criminal justicehuman rightsprisonssmoking bansEuropean Convention on Human RightsHealth Act 2006R (on the application of Black) v Secretary of State for Justice
Type
Research Article
Information
Legal Studies , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 321 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Legal Scholars 2019 

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Footnotes

†

I am grateful for comments from both Professor Lucia Zedner and Lewis Graham, and from the anonymous reviewers. Any errors and omissions remain my own. Unless otherwise stated, all URLs were last accessed 7 March 2019.

References

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2 See for example Letter from Prisons Minister Andrew Selous to Robert Neill MP, Chairman of the Justice Select Committee regarding smoking in prisons, Smoking in Prisons (29 September 2015), available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/smoking-in-prisons.

3 HM Prison and Probation Service Instruction National Policy, Organization and Summary Arrangements for the Management of Health and Safety (7 February 2018), AI 04/2015 PSI 06/2015 PI 03/2015, pp 47–48.

4 The Offender Health Research Network Smoking in Prison in England and Wales: An Examination of the Case for Public Health Policy Change (February 2014) pp 16–22, available at http://www.ohrn.nhs.uk/OHRNResearch/Smoking.pdf; Mackay, A ‘The human rights implications of smoking bans in closed environments: what Australia may learn from the international experience’ (2016) 46 International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 13 at 14CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 University of Stirling, Open University, and Centre for Tobacco Control Research Stop Smoking Support in HM Prisons: The Impact of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (25 January 2007) p 2, available at https://bulger.co.uk/prison/Stop%20Smoking%20Support%202006.pdf; M Baybutt, C Ritter, H Stover ‘Tobacco Use in Prison Settings: A Need for Policy Implementation’, p 141, available at http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/249205/Prisons-and-Health,-16-Tobacco-use-in-prison-settings-a-need-for-policy.pdf with reference to M Baybutt et al ‘Report of North West Case Studies of Best Practice and Innovation’ (2011) (prepared as part of the Tobacco Control in Prisons and Criminal Justice Settings: Regional Coordination Pilot Project) (unpublished document); Public Health England Health Matters: Smoking and Quitting in England (15 September 2015), available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-smoking-and-quitting-in-england/smoking-and-quitting-in-england. For figures pertaining to Scottish prisons specifically see Scottish Prison Service Prison Survey 2015 (December 2015) p 3, available at http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/Publications/Publication-4565.aspx.

6 Baybutt, Ritter and Stover, above n 5, p 138.

7 See for instance Richmond, R et al. ‘Promoting smoking cessation among prisoners: feasibility of a multi-component intervention’ (2006) 30 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 474CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Butler, T et al. ‘Should smoking be banned in prisons?’ (2007) 16 Tobacco Control 291 at 291CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Richmond, R et al. ‘Tobacco in prisons: a focus group study’ (2009) 18 Tobacco Control 176 at 177CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Papadodima, SA et al. ‘Smoking in prison: a hierarchical approach at the crossroad of personality and childhood events’ (2010) 20 European Journal of Public Health 470CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Ritter, C et al. ‘Smoking in prisons: the need for effective and acceptable interventions’ (2010) 32 Journal of Public Health Policy 32 at 38Google ScholarPubMed. See also DH and Prison Health Service Best Practice Guidance for Developing Smoking Cessation Services in Prisons (March 2003) p 18, available at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120106110849/http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4034484.pdf.

8 Butler et al, above n 7, at 291.

9 DH and Prison Health Service, above n 7, p 19.

10 See for example Butler et al, above n 7, at 291; Richmond et al (2009), above n 7, at 178; Ritter et al, above n 7, at 38.

11 Butler et al, above n 7; Richmond et al (2009), above n 7.

12 [2017] UKSC 81, [2018] 2 WLR 123 (hereinafter Black).

13 Foreword to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (Geneva, 21 May 2003) UN Treaty Series, vol 2302, v.

14 WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (Geneva, 21 May 2003) UN Treaty Series, vol 2302, p 166. It entered into force on 27 February 2005.

15 Health Act 2006, s 2(1). The Health Act 2006 entered into force on 1 July 2007. Before the enactment of the Health Act 2006, tobacco smoking in prison was considered a privilege under the Prison Rules 1999, SI 1999/728 (see Prison Rules 1999, rr 8 and 25(2)).

16 This is the Secretary of State in England and the National Assembly in Wales: Black, above n 12, at [16].

17 Smoke-free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007, SI 2007/765.

18 Ibid, reg 5.

19 Ibid, reg 5(3).

20 Smoke-free Legislation: Prison Service Application, PSI 09/2007 (2 April 2007).

21 Stop Smoking Support in HM Prisons: The Impact of Nicotine Replacement Therapy, above n 5, p 1.

22 Black, above n 12, at [21].

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid, at [1]. Premises occupied by the Crown include central government departments, such as care homes (see case comment ‘Smoking in Prison: The Wider Implications’ (2018) 34 Personal Injury Compensation 1 at 1–3).

25 R (on the application of Black) v Secretary of State for Justice [2015] EWHC 528 (Admin), [2015] 1 WLR 3963.

26 Secretary of State for Justice v Black [2016] EWCA Civ 125, [2016] QB 1060.

27 Black, above n 12, at [2]–[4].

28 See for instance Province of Bombay v Municipal Corporation of the City of Bombay [1947] AC 58; Lord Advocate v Dumbarton District Council [1990] 2 AC 580.

29 Black, above n 12, at [38]–[50].

30 Ibid, at [50].

31 Ibid, at [49].

32 Ibid.

33 HM Prison and Probation Service Instruction, above n 3, pp 47–48.

34 Health Act 2006, s 7.

35 Health Act 2006, s 8.

36 See Black, above n 12, at [38]–[39].

37 Ibid, at [40].

38 Ibid, at [42].

39 L v Birmingham City Council [2007] UKHL 27, [2007] 3 WLR 112, at [63].

40 However, in its Art 2 ECHR (right to life) case law the European Court of Human Rights has carved out a small space for a ‘right to health’ in certain circumstances: see L Graham ‘The European Court of Human Rights and the emerging right to health’ (OxHRH Blog 11 May 2017), available at http://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/the-european-court-of-human-rights-and-the-emerging-right-to-health.

41 For a similar reasoning and outcome in respect of exposure to smoke in psychiatric institutions see for instance Oprea v Moldova ECtHR 21 December 2010, specifically at [9], [36], [42].

42 Vasilescu v Belgium ECtHR 25 November 2014, at [6]–[20], [90]–[98].

43 Ibid, at [99]–[107].

44 Ibid, at [115]–[119].

45 Ostrovar v Moldova (2007) 44 EHRR 19, at [85].

46 Ibid, at [76]–[90].

47 Florea v Romania ECtHR 14 September 2010, at [46]–[65].

48 Aparicio Benito v Spain ECtHR 13 November 2006.

49 Florea v Romania, above n 47, at [61].

50 See for instance Kalashnikov v Russia (2006) 36 EHRR 34; Vasilescu v Belgium, above n 42; Ostrovar v Moldova, above n 45; Florea v Romania, above n 47.

51 Melnik v Ukraine ECtHR 28 March 2006, at [102]–[103]; Kadikis v Latvia (No 2) ECtHR 4 May 2006, at [52]; Andrey Frolov v Russia ECtHR 29 March 2007, at [47]–[49]; Kantyrev v Russia ECtHR 21 June 2007, at [50]–[51]. The ECtHR has made use of its pilot-judgment procedure on numerous occasions to address the structural issue of overcrowding in prison: see for example Ananyev v Russia (2012) 55 EHRR 18; Torreggiani and Others v Italy ECtHR 8 January 2013; Varga and Others v Hungary (2015) 61 EHRR 30; Rezmiveş and Others v Romania ECtHR 25 April 2017.

52 Elefteriadis v Romania ECtHR 25 January 2011, at [5]–[26], [37], [44].

53 Ibid, at [46]–[55].

54 Ibid, at [48].

55 Ibid, at [50].

56 Such as a period of almost ten months in Elfteriadis v Romania (ibid).

57 For instance confinement for 23 hours a day in one cell with a large number of smoking inmates in Ostrovar v Moldova, above n 45, and Florea v Romania, above n 47.

58 E Brems ‘Forced exposure to passive smoking violates human rights’ (Strasbourg Observers Blog September 2010), available at https://strasbourgobservers.com/author/ebrems/page/3/.

59 See Maes, E and Verbruggen, F ‘“Dan is het kot te klein…”: roken in de gevangenis’ in Samoy, I and Coutteel, E (eds) Het rookverbod uitbreiden? Juridisich onderzoek, casussen & aanbevelingen (Leuven: Acco, 2016) p 254Google Scholar.

60 Raninen v Finland (1998) 26 EHRR 563.

61 Aparicio Benito v Spain, above n 48.

62 Ibid, at [1].

63 Ibid, at [2].

64 Stoine Hristov v Bulgaria ECtHR 16 October 2008.

65 R (on the application of Smith) v Secretary of State for Justice [2014] EWCA Civ 380 (hereinafter: Smith).

66 R (on the application of Smith) v Secretary of State for Health [2013] EWHC 667 (Admin).

67 Smith, above n 65, at [48].

68 Ibid, at [48].

69 Shelley v UK (2008) 46 EHRR SE16.

70 Smith, above n 65, at [43]–[46].

71 See Maes and Verbruggen, above n 59, p 253.

72 Black, above n 12.

73 Smoke-free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007, above n 17, reg 5.

74 Goodwin v UK (2002) 35 EHRR 18 at [90]; Pretty v UK (2002) 35 EHRR 1 at [61]; KA and AD v Belgium ECtHR 17 February 2005, at [83].

75 Pretty v UK, above n 74, at [62].

76 Golder v UK (1975) 1 EHRR 524.

77 See for instance Hirst v UK (No 2) (2006) 42 EHRR 41 at [69]; Munjaz v UK ECtHR 17 July 2012 at [79].

78 For a comparative perspective on prisoners’ rights, and how protection of the right to privacy in prisons varies greatly between jurisdictions see Lazarus, L Contrasting Prisoners' Rights: A Comparative Examination of Germany and England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

79 McCann v State Hospitals Board for Scotland [2017] UKSC 31, [2017] 1 WLR 1455 (hereinafter McCann).

80 Ibid, at [42]–[57].

81 Ibid, at [50].

82 Ibid, at [58]–[62].

83 Ibid, at [60].

84 Ibid, at [60].

85 See Lazarus, L ‘Conceptions of liberty deprivation’ (2006) 69 MLR 738, specifically at 742–744CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

86 Butler et al, above n 7, at 291–292.

87 Rabin, RL ‘Tobacco control strategies: past efficacy and future promise’ (2008) 41 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1721Google Scholar.

88 Colgrove, J, Bayer, R and Bachynski, KE ‘Nowhere left to hide? The banishment of smoking from public spaces’ (2011) 346 New England Journal of Medicine 2375 at 2377Google Scholar.

89 See Farley, TA ‘Banishing smoking from public spaces’ (2011) 365 New England Journal of Medicine 1255Google ScholarPubMed.

90 Butler et al, above n 7, at 292.

91 The Offender Health Research Network, above n 4, p 4; Baybutt, Ritter and Stover, above n 5, pp 138–139.

92 Ritter, C et al. ‘Exposure to tobacco smoke before and after a partial smoking ban in prison: indoor air quality measures’ (2012) 21 Tobacco Control 488 at 490–491CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

93 Ibid, at 490–491; The Offender Health Research Network, above n 4, p 4.

94 Klepeis, NE, Ott, WR and Switzer, P ‘Real-time measurement of outdoor tobacco smoke particles’ (2007) 57 Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association 522CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

95 Ibid.

96 Institut National De Santé Publique Du Québec L'interdiction de fumer en établissement de detention québécois (Gouvernement du Québec, 2010).

97 Lasnier, B et al. ‘Implementing an indoor smoking ban in prison: enforcement issues and effects on tobacco use, exposure to second-hand smoke and health of inmates’ (2011) 102 Canadian Journal of Public Health 249 at 251–252Google ScholarPubMed.

98 Ibid.

99 Institut National De Santé Publique Du Québec, above n 96, vii–viii.

100 Lasnier et al, above n 97, at 250.

101 McCann, above n 79, at [12].

102 Lasnier et al, above n 97, at 252.

103 The Offender Health Research Network, above n 4, p 28; Mackay, A ‘The human rights implications of smoking bans in closed environments: what Australia may learn from the international experience’ (2016) 46 International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice 13 at 25–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

104 Mackay, above n 103, at 25.

105 See for example Metro Inmates are Rioting over a New Smoking Ban in Prisons (16 July 2017), available at http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/16/inmates-are-rioting-over-a-new-smoking-ban-in-prisons-6770389/; BBC News Smoking Ban and Short Staffing ‘Sparked Prison Riot’ (30 January 2018), available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-42877647; BBC News, HMP Haverigg Prison Riot Linked to Smoking Ban (27 February 2018), available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-43209010. On the representation of smoking in prisons and smoke-free prisons in the media see A Robinson, H Sweeting and K Hunt ‘UK news media representations of smoking, smoking policies and tobacco bans in prisons’ (2018) 27 Tobacco Control 622.

106 HM Inspectorate of Prisons Changing Patterns of Substance Misuse in Adult Prisons and Service Responses: A Thematic Review by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (2015) para 3.15, p 31, available at https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/12/Substance-misuse-web-2015.pdf.

107 Butler et al, above n 7, at 291.

108 Mackay, above n 103, at 18.

109 HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Annual Report 2013–2014 (2014) pp 30–31, available at https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/10/HMIP-AR_2013-14.pdf; HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Annual Report 2014–2015 (2015) pp 10, 34, 37–38, available at https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/07/HMIP-AR_2014-15_TSO_Final1.pdf; Changing Patterns of Substance Misuse in Adult Prisons and Service Responses, above n 106; HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Annual Report 2015–2016 (2016) pp 8, 26–27, available at https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/07/HMIP-AR_2015-16_web.pdf; HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Annual Report 2016–2017 (2017) p 26, available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/629719/hmip-annual-report-2016-17.pdf.

110 Ralphs, R et al. ‘Adding spice to the porridge: the development of a synthetic cannabinoid market in an English prison’ (2017) 40 International Journal of Drug Policy 57 at 57–58Google Scholar.

111 Psychoactive Substances Act 2016, ss 4–8.

112 Ibid, ss 9, 10(2).

113 Ralphs et al, above n 110, at 58–59, 65; HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Report on an Unannounced Inspection of HMP Erlestoke (2017) para 1.54, p 7, available at https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/11/HMP-Erlestoke-Web-2017.pdf.

114 Changing Patterns of Substance Misuse in Adult Prisons and Service Responses, above n 106, para 3.16, p 31.

115 Report on an Unannounced Inspection of HMP Erlestoke, above n 113, para 1.54, p 7.

116 See Hirst v UK (No 2), above n 77; Greens v UK (2011) 53 EHRR 21; Firth v UK (2016) 63 EHRR 25.