Transgender Prisoners

by J Metcalfe | Apr 20, 2016 | News Releases, Transgender

TRANSGENDER PRISONERS

The Correctional Service of Canada acknowledges the collaborative role of Prisoners’ Legal Services and the Canadian Human Rights Commission in policy reform for transgender prisoners. See the press release here.

The West Coast Prison Justice Society has worked for over 10 years assisting transgender prisoners with human rights complaints concerning access to gender confirming surgery, placement by gender identity and rights to privacy in relation to cell sharing, strip searches, urinalysis testing and washroom facilities.

In 2015, the West Coast Prison Justice Society filed a human rights complaint against the Correctional Service of Canada seeking systemic remedies for all transgender prisoners in Canada to ensure that their human rights, safety and dignity are protected.

On January 2, 2018, the Correctional Service of Canada promulgated Interim Policy Bulletin 584 on gender identity and expression. The West Coast Prison Justice Society is very pleased with this interim policy which ensures that transgender prisoners:

are placed in a men’s or women’s institution according to gender identity (unless there are overriding safety or security issues that cannot be resolved);
are able to receive clothing and personal items in accordance with their gender identity or expression;
are given the choice of the gender of officers who search them or conduct urinalysis testing of them;
are addressed by their preferred names and pronouns (unless the legal name is required);
are not required to share a cell with another prisoner if their gender identity would make them vulnerable to violence; and
are provided private and safe shower and washroom facilities whenever possible.

The interim policy will be in place until the relevant Commissioner’s Directives can be amended to reflect these changes.

Also since the West Coast Prison Justice Society filed its representative human rights complaint, CSC policy now requires health services to be provided in accordance with the current World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) Standards of Care. These standards allow people to meet the “real life test” of living in their gender for one year in prison, rather than requiring the test to be met in the community.

Before these policy changes, transgender prisoners were placed in men’s or women’s prisons according to their genitals rather than by gender identity. Vulnerable transgender women were forced to live in men’s prisons where they were at constant risk of sexual assault. CSC policy also put transgender prisoners at risk of suffering other dehumanizing forms of harassment and discrimination, including being strip searched by officers of the opposite gender, or being referred to by the wrong name and inappropriate gender pronouns. Prisoners who required gender affirming surgery who had not lived in the community for a continuous year, despite living in their gender for their entire adult lives, were denied medically necessary surgery. Click here to see our earlier policy reform recommendations.

Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC

Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480

Email: info@pls-bc.ca

We are grateful for the
funding provided by

How to Show Your Support

Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.

Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society

Or by PayPal:

Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.

Thanks for your support!

Immigration Status

by J Metcalfe | Apr 20, 2016 | Issues

Immigration Status

Prisoners without immigration status in Canada win human rights

October 22, 2018

Prisoners’ Legal Services – Burnaby BC

On October 18, 2018, the Federal Court of Appeal decided that federal prisoners without immigration status in Canada are protected by the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The Act protects the human rights of individuals who are “lawfully present in Canada”. A previous decision of the Federal Court of Appeal found that prisoners must have immigration status in Canada to be protected by the Act. Thursday’s decision finds that the previous decision was wrongly decided, and acknowledges that individuals who are serving sentences in Canadian prisons are lawfully present in Canada, and are protected by human rights law.

Prisoners’ Legal Services represented Kien Beng Tan in the case. Mr. Tan is a federal prisoner who is a citizen of Malaysia and a practicing Buddhist. He filed a human rights complaint when he and others were denied access to minority faith chaplains in prison. The Canadian Human Rights Commission refused to consider his complaint because it considered him not to be lawfully present in Canada.

The Honourable Justice Rennie wrote the majority decision. He found that Mr. Tan is lawfully present in Canada because he is serving a sentence to a term of imprisonment in Canada, which is authorized by the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. The stay of his removal order and the fact that his entry to Canada was authorized under the Extradition Act also indicate that his presence in Canada is lawful.

Mr. Justice Rennie departed from the previous Federal Court of Appeal decision, quoting Lord Denning for the principle that “[t]he doctrine of precedent does not compel [us] to follow the wrong path until [we] fall over the edge of a cliff”.

The Federal Court of Appeal notes that if it did not depart from the previous decision, Mr. Tan could be required to remain in prison for his entire life “under the greatest restriction of liberty and government control possible, in all aspects of life and wellbeing, yet cannot make a human rights complaint merely because he does not hold some form of immigration status and is subject to a deportation order if ever he is released.”

The court found it would create an absurd consequence to deprive a prisoner without immigration status of human rights protections, when a Canadian prisoner, could make a human rights complaint for the same discrimination, even if the former was serving a life sentence and the latter a short sentence.

“I am very glad that people who had no human rights protections in Canadian prisons now have rights. I am thankful that my case will help other people like me,” said Mr. Tan.

Lawyer Fadi Yachoua and Prisoners’ Legal Services Executive Director, Jennifer Metcalfe, represented Mr. Tan in the appeal. “This is a good day for human rights in Canada. Prisoners without immigration status are some of the most vulnerable and marginalized members of our society, and now they are protected by human rights law,” said Ms. Metcalfe.

The federal government supported Mr. Tan’s interpretation of the Canadian Human Rights Act to include foreign national prisoners serving a sentence in Canada under its protections.

Link to Tan v. Canada (Attorney General), 2018 FCA 186: https://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fca-caf/decisions/en/item/346253/index.do

Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC

Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480

Email: info@pls-bc.ca

We are grateful for the
funding provided by

How to Show Your Support

Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.

Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society

Or by PayPal:

Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.

Thanks for your support!

Solitary Confinement

by J Metcalfe | Apr 20, 2016 | Issues

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

On November 19, 2018, Prisoners’ Legal Services made submissions to the federal government on Bill C-83, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Bill C-83 makes changes to the laws on solitary confinement, but PLS argues they don’t go far enough to protect prisoners’ rights.

Read PLS’ submissions here.

Read the Canadian Bar Association’s submissions here.

International law ethical guidelines for medical professionals working in prisons

International law requires health care providers who work in prisons not to participate actively or passively in torture or other cruel treatment or punishment.

The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules) prohibit the use of solitary confinement against prisoners with mental or physical disabilities that would be exacerbated by isolation for any amount of time, and against anyone for more than 15 days, because in these circumstances, solitary confinement constitutes torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Prisoners’ Legal Services has written to the BC Correctional Health Services asking them to adopt guidelines for members that would comply with international law. Click here to see our recommendations.

WCPJS/PLS has released a report on the use of solitary confinement in BC and Canada.

Solitary: A Case for Abolition is a detailed prescription for the best practices in abolishing solitary confinement in Canada. This project is funded by the Law Foundation of BC.

Highlights of the report include:

research on the use of solitary confinement by BC Corrections and the Correctional Service of Canada (Pacific Region) based on law, policy and client interviews;
a review of recommendations made by the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the Correctional Investigator for Canada, medical professional associations and coroners’ inquests, including the Ashley Smith Inquest Jury recommendations;
a review of journal articles on the psychological and psychiatric effects of long term solitary confinement;
research on law reform in other jurisdictions that has put limits on the use of solitary confinement; and
recommendations based on the above research to BC Corrections and the Correctional Service of Canada regarding the use of solitary confinement.

Download the complete report here.

Solitary confinement is the practice of isolating prisoners alone in a small cell for 22 hours or more per day with little meaningful human contact. BC Corrections calls this “separate confinement” or “segregation”, and the Correctional Service of Canada calls it “segregation” or “administrative segregation”. Research shows that prisoners can suffer irreversible and harmful psychological effects from isolation after 15 days.

Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC

Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480

Email: info@pls-bc.ca

We are grateful for the
funding provided by

How to Show Your Support

Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.

Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society

Or by PayPal:

Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.

Thanks for your support!

Prisoners reach settlement on access to drug treatment in provincial jails

by J Metcalfe | Apr 15, 2016 | News, News Releases

A group of prisoners who filed a Charter challenge last month in BC Supreme Court reached an agreement with BC Corrections today that will save them the effort and the enormous expense of having their case go to court.

Their challenge was against a provincial prison policy that restricted their access to methadone and Suboxone medication for opiate addiction treatment. The five prisoners sought an injunction order suspending the policy; and compelling BC Corrections to bring them before a doctor authorized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC to prescribe methadone and suboxone.

The challenge was funded by the West Coast Prison Justice Society.

“At this time, all of our clients have been treated with the medication they were asking for, and BC Corrections has implemented a new policy,” said Adrienne Smith, a Vancouver lawyer acting for the four men in provincial custody who brought the case. “The decision is timely, given the Provincial Health Officer’s declaration of a public health emergency yesterday” Said Smith. “We know the fentanyl epidemic does not stop at the prison gate. We congratulate BC Corrections for making changes to its policies to address this issue before anyone else in prison in BC dies a preventable death”.

In the news:

Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC

Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480

Email: info@pls-bc.ca

We are grateful for the
funding provided by

How to Show Your Support

Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.

Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society

Or by PayPal:

Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.

Thanks for your support!

SCC Decides Pre-Trial Credit Case – provision is overbroad and unconstitutional

by J Metcalfe | Apr 15, 2016 | News, News Releases

On April 15, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that a provision limiting the discretion of a judge to give enhanced pre-trial credit was overbroad and unconstitutional.

The West Coast Prison Justice Society/Prisoners’ Legal Services was represented at the Supreme Court of Canada by Greg Allen and Ken Leung in R v Safarzadeh-Markhali.

A provision of the Truth in Sentencing Act, which was enacted as part of the Harper government’s “tough on crime” agenda, prohibited a trial judge from giving more than one-for-one pretrial credit if a justice of the peace denies bail to the person because of a previous conviction.

Congratulations to all involved in this important case, and a special thanks to Greg and Ken who represented us pro bono.

Prisoners’ Legal Services
302-7818 6th Street
Burnaby, BC

Tel: 604-636-0470
Fax: 604-636-0480

Email: info@pls-bc.ca

We are grateful for the
funding provided by

How to Show Your Support

Help us to continue to fight for the human rights of prisoners in BC! PLS is currently litigating the important systemic issues of the segregation of prisoners with mental disabilities, access to health care, transgender prisoner rights, and access to religion and Indigenous spirituality. We need help to continue to do this important work. Donations to West Coast Prison Justice Society are non-charitable and are not tax deductible.

Donations can be made to
West Coast Prison Justice Society

Or by PayPal:

Please call us at 604-636-0470 or email us at info@pls-bc.ca if you would like to discuss your donation.

Thanks for your support!