A High Court injunction was granted against the action of prison officers who have been ordered to end a 24-hour protest and return to work. Up to 10,000 prison officers in England and Wales stopped work over claims of a “surge in violence” in jails. It is illegal for officers to strike, but the Prison Officers Association argued the government had not provided safe working conditions. However, the judge said the case for an injunction was strong.
The Prison Officers Association (POA) is not yet thought to have issued a formal order to its members to return to work and officers remain outside prisons across the country.
Granting the injunction, Mr Justice Kerr said there was evidence 80% of staff had taken some sort of action in most prisons, “A number of incidents have occurred in prisons today and the situation is very concerning indeed.”
In court, the union’s lawyer cited a series of incidents he said had occurred in the last two weeks. But the government’s lawyers accused the POA of “seeking to take over the control of jails from governors and run them on a controlled lock-down basis”.
Daniel Stilitz QC, for the Ministry of Justice, said the “danger” was “ramping up” with “each hour that goes by with the prisons unmanned”.
The protest began at midnight and comes after multiple high-profile incidents at prisons across England and affected prisoner transport and brought an unknown number of court cases to a standstill.
Section 127 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is the piece of legislation that in effect bans prison officers from taking industrial action. It says ministers can bring legal proceedings against anyone who “induces” a prison officer to “withhold” their services or “commit a breach of discipline”.
Be the first to comment