Role of the Commission
The Commission, including the Office of the Commissioner, is an administrative creation with a remit from the Scottish Ministers and is completely independent of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).
The role of the Commission is to investigate a complaint made by a prisoner against the SPS that has not been resolved through the SPS's internal grievance system. The Commission can investigate complaints about almost anything to do with the way the SPS has treated a prisoner however, the Commission will not investigate a complaint if the SPS has not been afforded every opportunity to resolve the matter through the grievance system.
Once a prisoner has exhausted the SPS's internal grievance system, he/she can contact the Commission. Prisoners will normally contact the Commission by letter but they also can telephone. The Commission will then consider whether the matter is within its jurisdiction and whether the matter is appropriate for investigation. Complaints cannot be accepted that relate to conviction or sentence awarded by the Courts, decisions relating to parole or life licence, or complaints relating to medical matters that involve clinical judgement. The Commission also cannot become involved in cases which are the subject of legal proceedings or the opinions of professionals regarding a prisoner. The Commission will also not investigate a complaint that is considered trivial, vexatious or completely without merit.
Further guidance on the Commission's processes and rules will be published in August 2008.
Once the Commission has completed an investigation there are a number of possible outcomes. In some cases the Commission does not find in the prisoner's favour. In such cases no requests or recommendations are made to the SPS but the Commission will write to the prisoner explaining why the decision was reached on his/her complaint.
In some cases a prisoner's complaint can be resolved at the local level. This is often achieved as a result of communication between the Commission and the staff, managers and governors of the prisons. Other cases require the Commissioner to make a formal recommendation to the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service. The Chief Executive must provide a response within 28 days and the prisoner will be informed of any recommendations made and of their outcome.