Prisoners' Advice Service
| Type | NGO |
|---|---|
| 3180659 | |
| Registration no. | 1054495 |
| Location |
|
|
Area served
|
England & Wales |
|
Revenue
|
charitable donations |
| Mission | To offer free legal advice and information to prisoners throughout England and Wales regarding their rights, conditions of imprisonment and the application of the prison rules. |
| Website | http://www.prisonersadvice.org |
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.
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).
1991 PAS was set up by organisations working with prisoners, including Liberty, the Howard League for Penal Reform and Nacro, to deal with the increasing demand for legal advice throughout England and Wales. Vicky King was appointed as the first case worker.
1993 Simon Creighton became PAS' first solicitor.
Cases taken on by PAS led to Prison Service allowing prisoners to see their parole reports, and be given reasons for refusal.
PAS successfully applied to the Legal Services Commission for a franchise to operate a legal aid scheme, and the organisation began taking on its own litigation.
1994 The Incentive and Earned Privileges Scheme, and Mandatory Drugs Tests was introduced, resulting in a rise in demand for advice from PAS.
1996 PAS legal staff wrote a key text book on prison law.
1997 PAS began to provide detailed information leaflets, and starts to distribute the Prisoners’ Legal Rights Group Bulletin. PAS was able to take volunteers due to increased space.
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