HMP inmates barred from speaking to their lawyers due to guard shortage, law society warns
Lawyers unable to call or visit clients amounts to human rights abuse: NDP
A lack of staff overseeing inmates at Her Majesty's Penitentiary in St. John's is prompting criticism once again — this time from Newfoundland and Labrador's opposition politicians and frustrated lawyers.
In December, the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador asked the Department of Justice to fix barriers to communication between inmates and the lawyers representing them, suggesting there's simply not enough staff to ensure inmates can have visitors and make phone calls.
The society said its members have repeatedly struggled to speak to clients incarcerated at HMP.
The letter, penned by president Scott Worsfold, says those communication issues — related to staff shortages — amount to a violation of inmates' right to legal counsel, as enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
"Lawyers are ethically obliged to communicate effectively with their clients," Worsfold wrote. "Advice and instructions cannot be provided where a lawyer cannot communicate."
The letter pointed to CBC News reporting from last year, in which lawyers spoke openly about how staffing shortages have affected their clients.
"I'm often going into court appearances with clients who are often appearing by video from HMP, and they're not aware of what's going to happen with their matter — and I'm not aware of their instructions on what they want to do — because I have no way to reach them," lawyer Taylor Starrett told CBC News in August.
Worsfold declined to speak to CBC News about the letter, which was made public Monday by the provincial NDP, who acquired the exchange through an access-to-information request.
"It's quite alarming," said Lela Evans, the NDP MHA for Torngat Mountains, on Monday afternoon.
"[The Charter is] the cornerstone of our democracy. To have the law society send a letter to the minister raising concerns about people who have been arrested and detained … [not having] adequate access to a lawyer. Their human rights are being infringed upon."
In a written response to the law society dated Dec. 21, Justice Minister John Hogan said the province has had "great success" recruiting new staff, pointing to 25 new employees and more than 23 new recruits who have completed or are finishing their training at HMP and the Labrador Correctional Centre.
Hogan refused to speak to CBC News about the issue. Instead, Justice Department spokesperson Eric Humber sent CBC News a statement by email.
The statement said 65 correctional officers total will have been hired across the province by the spring and officers are offered a $2,500 retention bonus, as well as increased overtime pay.
The statement did not answer specific questions from CBC News about how many of those hired officers have been retained, or how many officers have left HMP in recent months.
'Erosion of services'
Evans called the legal access issue just one part of an ongoing saga of problems inside the embattled prison, which has been regularly thrust into the spotlight for years due to its aging infrastructure and lack of adequate programming.
Shovels have yet to hit the ground for a new penitentiary, which was promised in 2019 and originally slated open its doors in 2022.
"We assume that when people are incarcerated, who go into the system, that there'll be supports available to help them, so that when they come out and rejoin society … they'll be able to function and not be a threat," Evans said.
"Budget after budget, we've seen an erosion of our services. And now we're at a critical point."
Jerry Earle, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Employees, said Monday the province had subsidized some college fees for new recruits but the extreme paucity of correctional officers means "it's going to take a number of training opportunities" to fill the ranks completely.
HMP faced an "extreme shortage" of guards last year, he said, with around 30 vacant positions.
Retention also remains a challenge, he added, noting he'd heard of some of those recruits walking into HMP, taking one look at the prison's conditions, and walking out again.
"It's quite a challenging environment to work in," Earle said.
Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.
With files from Sarah Blackmore