Mary Henry (Independent)

This runs counter to the First UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Prisoners 1955, which was approved in 1957. That congress listed standard minimum rules for prisons, one of which stated that "Prisoners found insane shall not be detained in prisons and shall be removed to mental institutions as soon as possible." The same set of minimum rules went on to suggest that "All other mentally ill prisoners should be treated in prison, but their treatment should be of an acceptable medical standard". I will examine the Minister's proposed amendment on Report Stage.