The fundamental concept behind Human Rights is that they are available to all. Bearing this in mind, it makes sense that prisoners are using human rights legislation to file personal injury claims. This costs the prison service thousands of pounds a year!
Such claims have varied from prisoners having fallen out of bed, slipping on split soup and even tripping on uneven floors.
There have actually been payouts on these claims. Just this year an inmate was awarded £200 for injuring his hand while hanging up his clothes. More serious claims involved an inmate being awarded £1,000 for injury to his back, sustained while lifting slabs. The highest payout on record was made by the Scottish Prison Service which offered £2,000 to an inmate who was scaled with boiling water.
On a more serious note, there have been personal injury claims based on the fact that fourteen inmates were assaulted by fellow prisoners due to the negligence of prison officers in their duties.
A large number of health and safety claims have also been brought against the Scottish Prison Service. One such example was the claim where an inmate said that there was no eye wash available when he mistakenly sprayed his face with disinfectant.
A vast amount of public money is being used to investigate and contest these claims. But should the prisoner win in his claim, the claim still comes out of the public purse.
Since the introduction of the Human Rights Act, £64m of public money has been set aside to deal with prisoner compensation claims. The figure includes £50m to meet compensation claims from prisoners who had to “slop out” their cells.
But let’s not lose sight of the real story here. Many academics will tell you that human rights do not exist, that they are fictions made by the powerful to satisfy and subdue the weak. So the fact that human rights legislation is actually been used for a section of ‘undesirable’ society could only be testament to the success of human rights, can it not?
“The prison service does have to deal with these claims but, frankly, many of the prisoners are at it, looking to see how they can play the system, possibly to ward off boredom,” said Bill Aitken, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives. “There is still a cost in investigating these claims which could be used elsewhere in the justice system.”
According to figures published by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, compensation payments made to prisoners between 2004 and 2009 totalled £4,074,000. Since 2007, prisoners have lodged 40,000 official complaints about their conditions, including the quality of razor blades, being denied access to satellite television after midnight, and being refused a Christmas bonus. The complaints cost up to £100,000 a year to process.
What does remain crucial is that the seriousness of personal injury claims and human rights is not watered down and devalued by ‘ridiculous’ claims.
Antonia Torr is a graduate from the University of Leicester, with a degree in Law with European Union Law. Having enjoyed writing from a young age, Antonia has received numerous awards that act as a testament to her quality of writing. Should you wish to read more of Antonia’s work, feel free to visit her at
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