Prisons Project

The Prisons Project is a proactive initiative, aiming to contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders. It began in February 2010, piloted in HMYOI Polmont and now also runs in HMP Barlinnie. There are currently sixteen members on the project. The purpose of the project is to provide offenders with information on their rights under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. These rights relate to how and when a conviction may become ‘spent’ for the purposes of employment i.e. when a person no longer has to declare their conviction when applying for a job. The period of time it takes for a conviction to become spent is known as the rehabilitation period.

The information is given through a PowerPoint presentation assisted by handouts. Presentations take place approximately once a month and are given by two project members.

A presentation consists of:

  • a brief overivew of the law clinic
  • discussion of specific rights under the Act
  • consideration of how factors such as age, time of conviction, length of sentence affect calculation of rehabilitation period
  • various sentence types are covered such as: custodial, probation, Community Service Orders, fines and admonishment.
  • after the main provisions of the Act are covered, specific examples are then of fictional scenarios are worked through with the offenders
  • offenders are then invited to calculate their own rehabilitation periods
  • questions are then invited and answered where possible, while making offenders aware aware that the information is of a general nature and specific advice should be sought from a solicitor.
  • information on outside resources, such as APEX, are made available to assist offenders in their efforts to find employment upon their release.
  • Law Clinic contact details are also given should the offenders require any advice or assistance in the future.

    • Project members are currently looking at developing new presentations relating to tagging and housing issues, and negotiations for expanding the project into HMP Greenock are ongoing.

    For more information on the Prisons Project or any other aspect of the Law Clinic, please email enquiries@lawclinic.org.uk