Re The Prison Officers Association
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Gillen J |
| Judgment Date | 2008 |
| Neutral Citation | [2008] NIQB 35 |
| Year | 2008 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 31 March 2008 |
1
Neutral Citation no. [2008] NIQB 35 Ref:
GIL7118
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
31/3/08
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
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QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
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JUDICIAL REVIEW
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RE THE PRISON OFFICERS ASSOCIATION
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GILLEN J
Application
[1] The Applicant in this matter is the Prison Officers Association. It has
been granted leave to apply for judicial review of a decision of the Northern
Ireland Prison Service (“the Respondent”) of 14th June 2007 to prefer
disciplinary charges against six prison officers for gross misconduct at
Hydebank Young Offenders Centre (“the YOC”). Leave was granted on the
grounds set out in Re Prison Officers Association [2007] NIQB 99.
[2] The issues for the determination of this Court can be summarised as
follows:
(i) Has paragraph 8.1. of the Northern Ireland Prison Service Code of
Conduct and Discipline (“COCD”), which the Respondent asserts is enacted
under Rule 6 of the Prison and Young Offenders Centre Rules (Northern
Ireland) 1995 (“the Rules”), been breached in that disciplinary charges were
preferred by the Deputy Director of Operations and not by a ranking
governor in the Northern Ireland Prison Service?
(ii) Were the terms of reference for the investigation which led to the
impugned disciplinary process procedurally unfair in that it required and
relied on a random sample of 25% of staff at the YOC and excluded the
governor grades from investigation?
The Statutory Framework
[3] Where relevant to this case, the Rules provide as follows:
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“4.- (1) In these rules-
‘the governor’ means the governing governor of a
prison whether or not present at the prison;
‘a governor’ means any governor and includes an
officer acting with authority under rule 117(2) or rule
117(3);
‘officer’ means an officer of a prison; ‘prisoner’
means any person required to be detained in a prison;
Code of Conduct
6. The Secretary of State may approve a code, or
codes, of conduct to have effect in relation to the
conduct, duties and discipline of the staff of prisons.
GENERAL RULES RELATING TO OFFICERS
General duties of officers
110.-(1) Every officer shall conform to these rules and
whatever rules and regulations may be in force in the
prison and shall assist and support the governor in
maintaining them.
(2) Every officer shall perform his duties
conscientiously and shall be courteous towards other
officers, staff and members of the public
(3) An officer shall obey the lawful instructions of
the governor.
(4) An officer shall inform the governor promptly
of any breach of these rules or any abuse or
impropriety which comes to his knowledge.
116.-(1) The governor shall be in command of the
prison.
…………………………….
(4) Subject to any direction from the Secretary of
State, the governor shall have authority over all
officers and employees on the staff of the prison.
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