Published today our latest Prison Legal Advice Survey has found that lack of legal representation continues to be high, with 85% of respondents not having legal representation for their immigration case. 

Individuals detained in prisons continue to face practical barriers to accessing immigration legal advice; including communications hurdles such as getting PIN numbers approved, obtaining updated lists of numbers to call and delays in getting lawyers’ numbers approved.

The research serves as further evidence as to the inappropriate use of prisons for the purpose of detention. Prisons are designed for the purpose of punishment and are incompatible with administrative detention.  

The inclusion of prisons into the detention estate prolongs punishment against people who have already completed their sentence, solely because they are not British.  

No one should be detained at all, let alone in a prison. BID opposes the use of all immigration detention and believes detention in prison must be ended as a priority. 

This report calls on the government to urgently end the use of prisons for the purpose of immigration detention. Those detained under immigration powers in prisons should be released to their communities, where they would have better access to justice than through the prison environment. 

We propose the following recommendations to ensure that everyone has meaningful access to justice.

  1. Provision of legal advice in prisons should be expanded and developed as a matter of urgency and should be equal to the provision of advice in IRCS.
  2. Legal aid withdrawn under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) must be restored. In the interim, legal aid lawyers should be allowed to make decisions to issue Exceptional Case Funding without needing to resort to the Legal Aid Agency. 
  3. People facing deportation action whilst serving criminal sentences should also have access to the Telephone Legal Advice Service to receive immigration advice as a matter of priority.
  4. Individuals held in prison under immigration powers should have prompt access to initial legal advice. If they do not have a legal representative they should be provided with a lawyer upon being detained under immigration powers and they should retain the lawyer until they are either removed from the UK or granted leave to remain.
  5. Ensure Prison Governors, prison staff and people held in prisons are aware of the Rule 21 process for people in prisons so that vulnerable individuals are effectively and promptly assessed with regards to their continued detention under immigration powers in a prison.
  6. Individuals should receive assistance to enable them to access advice – including covering call costs for legal advice.
  7. Delays in accessing telephone legal advice should be addressed. 

Read the report

Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) is a registered Charity No. 1077187. Registered in England as a Limited Company No. 03803669. Accredited by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner Ref. No. N200100147. We are a member of the Fundraising Regulator, committed to best practice in fundraising and follow the standards for fundraising as set out in the Code of Fundraising Practice.
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