The recent controversy over the placement of trans identified male prisoners in female prisons has thrown into sharp relief how, for the best part of a decade, the Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Government have side-lined the needs and interests…
Read More MBM response to the Justice Secretary statement on protecting prisoners
This blog looks at the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as part of developing its Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment policy. Background The SPS website lists all equality impact assessments (EQIA) they have carried…
Read More The SPS Equality Impact Assessment on its trans prisoner policy
On 22 December 2022 the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill amends the Gender Recognition Act 2004 for Scotland, allowing any person aged 16 years or over to change their legal sex based on a…
In April 2012, I began a new job working for the Howard League for Penal Reform. In my first week, I attended the launch of the report of the Commission on Women Offenders, led by Dame Elish Angiolini. The report…
Read More Lisa Mackenzie: speech at rally outside HMP Cornton Vale, 26 November 2022
This blog uses material from recently received FoI responses, supplemented by other published and unpublished sources, to consider how the current Scottish Prison Service (SPS) review of its Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy offers a chance to get policy…
This article, published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, looks at developments on the Scottish Prison Service trans prisoner policy review between December 2018 and December 2020.
The Scottish Government's interpretation of relevant case law, and the policy's apparent incompatibility with the 2011 Prison Rules both suggest the need for further clarification in this area.
