Implementing A Law Degree Programme

in Prison: Challenges & Opportunities

By K. Saidi & E. J. Oteng

1. African Prisons Project (APP) is a prison-centred, Humanitarian Non-Governmental

Organisation operational in Uganda and Kenya with headquarters in London.

2. We seek the positive transformation of inmates and to bring dignity and hope to
those who live or work within prison communities.

3. One way we seek to create this transformation and restore dignity and hope is
through education, specifically legal education.

4. The legal education we currently provide prison communities follows a dual

approach of academic Legal Education (leading to a recognised, formal legal
qualification) and vocational legal education (provided by a Legal Skills Programme
backed by Clinical Legal Experience (CLE) undertaken at Law Clinics within prison.

5. Our scholars come from a pool of candidates selected from various prisons within
Uganda and Kenya. This is from amongst inmates and staff, and which provides the
opportunity to be sponsored, mentored and guided through self-study for a
Distance Learning Undergraduate Law Degree (LLB).

6. Other inmates or prison staff, from a much wider pool and in greater number, are
selected from those same institutions. These undertake, firstly, Legal Skills Training
and thereafter attachment as Auxiliary Paralegals at Law Clinics within the penal
institutions where they live or serve.

7. This approach provides a replenishable pool of legally aware, trained and competent
persons. These would have easy access to and an interest in assisting otherwise
unserved indigent inmates with their legal issues.

8. APP runs both these programmes under the heading the Justice Changemaker
Programme.

9. Prisons are restrictive places with high security, many rules, restricted liberty and
both those used to breaking or ignoring rules (radicals) living alongside those
mandated and trained to enforce rules daily. This combination is always going to
have its challenges. What follows is an explanation of some of them, how they
affect our education and CLE activities and how they are mitigated. Later still,
opportunities arising from these programmes will be explored.

10.Security Restrictions - Given the Maximum Security nature of the prisons we

work in, security restrictions play a large part in our daily life and that of our
beneficiaries. Prisons in Uganda and Kenya follow a quasi-military hierarchical
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 structure. Orders are issued top-down with little scope for debate. Both services are
armed although this has little impact on daily roll-out of our programme. Taking this
into account and noting the serious nature of the often violence-related offences
inmates there might have committed and the push factor to escape, necessary
security rules exist and need be adhered to.

11.Part of the security rules regard entry into and movement of personnel within the
prison unit, the nature of physical and other interaction between inmates and
personnel, the nature of material allowed to enter and exit the prison and the scope
and nature of matters discussed by tutors and students.

12.Within prison units, entry of tutors is subject to vetting and provision of appropriate
permission highlighting the tutor’s knowledge and acceptance of the various
instructions and precautions in place. Conservative dress is required of women as
the prison environment is home to a number of men deprived of female company
and, in some cases, being held for offences involving violations of female modesty
and rights. Similarly, within all-female prison units, admittance of male personnel is
subject to restrictions too. In all institutions, visitors are escorted by a uniformed
Prison Officer mandated to monitor interactions between the inmate and visitor and
ensure neither one compromises the other through transfer of contraband,
inappropriate physical contact or other interaction including discussion. Just as
inmates have the ability to harm and upset visitors, so too do visitors have the
ability to upset (and thereby harm) inmates. This could be by raising inappropriate
or insensitive topics to people whom have had personal liberty and choice restricted
for an extended and substantial time.

13.In order to ensure neither party is harmed and the good provided by the
programme stopped, a degree of censorship exists. Established tutors are
sufficiently aware not to raise topics outside the study of law that touch upon sex,
violence, treason and security except where these are being explicitly studied and
discussion requires study of the same. Such discussion form part of the positive
transformation, where the inmate student explores the rights and wrongs of actions
they might have undertaken themselves. In this context, no topic is out of bounds
so long as it relates to the syllabus at hand which, happily, concerns a jurisdiction
removed from that in which the tutoring takes place. Despite this, discussions
remain recognisable and relevant. Other types of censorship include that of
incoming and outgoing communication and material. It is valid to monitor written
communication traveling either way, as this is a small bureaucratic step. This stops
harmful material such as prison floor plans and maps, pornography, etc. from
coming in.

14.Reading material for study is not subject to the same level of scrutiny once it has
been vouched for by the prison education department with whom close cooperation
is required. Within this arrangement, various scholastic materials such as pens,
pencils, writing paper, markers, staplers, file covers and fasteners are permitted to
enter. Of late, in one jurisdiction, computer equipment and memory sticks have also
been allowed in although a security protocol exists for them. The PCs or laptops are
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 rewired to operate under use of a password and are Internet disabled. Similarly,
memory sticks are scrutinised for content both upon entry and exit. Usually, if
collecting work to leave the establishment, it is more sensible to bring in an empty
memory stick (to speed up the process). Newspapers are allowed although the
more sensational and morally ambivalent tabloids are not. Television is permitted
generally, where scheduled programmes such as those related to news and praise
can be watched. Provision also exists to bring in on the memory stick films and
documentary that need be censored first prior to viewing. In this veine, films like
"To Kill a Mocking Bird" and "Marshall", a bio-pic of U.S. Lawyer and Supreme
Court Justice Thurgoode Marshall have been provided for viewing and discussion
amongst students as they are inspirational, raise aspects of law studied and portray
sound legal professional ethics. Films with profanity, alternative sexual relationships,
casual or lurid titillation, glorification of violence, crime or other wrong-doing are
generally self-censored out to avoid questions like " What are you teaching
anyway?"

15. Previously, mp3 devices with pre-recorded lectures and solar lamps for out of
hours’ study were provided successfully. However, due to power dynamics amongst
inmates - which need be considered, they were discontinued. We were told that "an
inmate with a lamp was not just an inmate anymore. He was a person with power
to decide who sleeps at night and who doesn't" . Lamps and torches using batteries
or metallic in nature are generally not allowable for reasons of their potential for
conversion into weapons (Maglite Torch as a baton, dry cells in a sock as a cosh,
jagged metallic bits as shanks).

16.Since we have rigorously adhered to all requirements of us without fail, latitude

within prison exists. Firstly, we were enabled in 2018 to host an externally
organised TEDx Talk and Graduation Thanksgiving to which guests and press such
as BBC, Al Jazeera and others attended and filmed. Additionally, no less
spectacular, the prison policy has extended to allowing us to furnish our
programmes in prison with laptops, PCs, memory sticks, TVs and our most recent
addition, permission to take part in an International Human Rights Moot
competition via live stream broadcast from within the prison. This is an additional
step to our hosting in 2018 Makerere University School of Law in a Moot
competition with our sponsored scholars.

Naturally, all the above is being done in the name of providing our sponsored
scholars and trained Auxiliary Paralegals sufficient material and opportunity to allow
them a credible and worthwhile academic and vocational legal training equal to any
other law student, if not better.

17.Not only do students on our Law programme study law, they are also able to
practice it to a limited degree through our Clinical Legal Experience initiative
provided at our prison-based Law Clinics. These serve those prison communities.
Typically, each Law Student is recruited as an Auxiliary Paralegal whose duties
include conducting Legal Awareness Sessions for inmates, Legal research and
Drafting, interviewing clients, case file management including preparing
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 documentation for filing in Outstanding or Out of Time Appeals and Bail
Applications, making requests to trace Case Files or applying for either Nolle
Prosequis or Plea Bargaining Arrangements.

18.Work is carried out at a rate of a minimum of ten (10) hours per week per Auxiliary
Paralegal.

19.What our Law Student/Auxiliary Paralegal gain from this experience are myriad and
include empowerment, better understanding of their situation and options available
to them (where before there may seem to have been none), increase in their self-
worth, more positive image of them in the eyes of others, potential improvement in
their treatment and prison conditions, perhaps even a formal qualification and hope.

20.What other inmates, the prison and society gain at large is a better understanding
of the Rights of Prisoners and their role in helping them achieve these, a better
positive image of both the Prison Administration and the inmates under their
charge, increased professionalism, better communication and a more co-operative
relationship between Prison Staff and Inmates (as a result of mutual effort on a
shared endeavor with a common goal).

21.One penultimate initiative remains to be suggested to the prison authorities and this
is subject to successful tele-attendance at the International Moot. After that
occasion, installing a secure, remote computer terminal linked to a Law Office
outside prison, would be nice. This way, the Law Clinic and its staff could have
virtual access to and a telepresence in that institution. This would allow them to
better receive and action requests to undertake remote legal research and drafting
work as fully fledged but imprisoned members of staff of that Law Firm. At that
point, not only will Access to Justice have been fully realised, but it would clearly
have been seen to have been realized as well.

22. Why is all this important? Why is it being done? Who does it benefit? Who gains?
These are some of the questions it is quite legitimate to pose.

23.What has worked with our initiative is that both the Law Degree Programme and
the Law Clinics are bearing fruit. Over sixteen Graduates and one Postgraduate
have been realized in the course of the programme.

24.Of the above figure, one Graduate was a soldier previously imprisoned by the
military. He has now been re-appointed to the Court Martial System as a Prosecutor
following release and graduation. Another Graduate is a Prison Officer attached to a
Prison Training School as an Instructor. He takes part in creating the new
generation of Human Rights conscious Prison Officers for that particular service.

25.It is this idea that you take persons from within the system – especially persons
who have wronged or been wronged, train them in Human Rights and Legal Skills
and send them right back into that system, into pivotal roles, where they can
contribute to and influence the Human Rights narrative internally.

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26.What has not worked so well is the slow pace of expanding our connections with
other Legal Education Institutions, necessary accreditation and recognition from
various State Prosecutors’ Offices and Police Forces.

27.Support from Legal Education Institutions is necessary to realise our final aim of a
College of Law within Prisons. Other Legal Education Institutions can provide
Visiting Professionals and material support for us to improve – so, please, all
concerned and present note this point.

28.Once recognised by various Police Forces and State Prosecutors’ Offices, we could
better develop and roll out a “Best Practice in Detention Management &
Rights Observation Programme”. This would be embedded and implemented
right from arrest and detention at the police station. Through it, we would hope to
encourage State Prosecutors to prefer Community Service and other Non-Custodial
Sentences instead of imprisonment where appropriate. This would greatly
contribute to prison decongestion and improve conditions for those who would still
remain incarcerated.

29.Recently in one jurisdiction, we have helped inmates file close to six hundred
Memoranda of Appeal in that jurisdiction’s superior appellate courts. We have also
had several clients heard on appeal and their anticipated results are welcome. Our
self-representing inmates were well received in court for the quality and substance
of their submission and it is expected that such recognition from the Judiciary could
open up doors with the State Prosecutors’ Offices for our programmes.

30.We are also considering reaching out to Police Forces using a “Community &
Police Stations Outreach Programme”. Under this programme, we would utilize
released and formerly APP-Trained inmates to spread legal awareness on detention
rights at the police station. They would spread this awareness through personal
visits to police stations and delivery of Information, Communication & Education
(ICE) material on such points.

31.Currently, we have some external volunteers from local and other universities join
our programmes temporarily as Guest Lecturers and Staff attached to the Law
Clinics. If we could develop this facility, we might be able to allow other students
other than Law Students (Penology, Criminology, Sociology and Social work
students) to attach to our Law Clinics or Law Course to both give to and gain from
that experience.

32.We could consider Criminology and Prison Law as electives our students could
undertake on the Undergraduate Law Course with Prison Administration and
Corrections Management being provided at the Postgraduate Level.

33.Our point in doing this would be that students on the cusp of entering those
professions (Penology, Criminology, Sociology, Social Work, Prison Law, Prison
Administration & Corrections Management) could gain detailed, extended first-hand
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 experience of the prison environment and the challenges and opportunities it
presents). They would thus be better placed to find solutions (and thereby feed
back into the system positively) in the course of their studies than anyone else.

34.Within all our work, plans and suggestions, paramount and omnipresent, is the
need for Human Rights to be recognized and observed. This is achieved through
insisting and ensuring that all participating students and Auxiliary paralegals (Prison
Officers inclusive) undertake training in Human Rights and/or take the International
Protection of Human Rights (IPHR) elective offered on the Law Degree.

35.Of course, given the uniqueness of both the setting and the endeavour, specific
questions tend to be raised from time to time:

36. How Can You Run This Course in Prison Without Breaking Any of Its
Rules?
We stress to our Students and Auxiliary Paralegals that more is achievable working
with the system than outside of it. This way, we can make suggestions for
improvement and change from an informed position - having seen and become
intimately acquainted with the inner workings of the system, and be heard. Going
against the rules in this context would simply be counter-productive and counter-
intuitive.
37. Why would A Lawbreaker Study Law at All?
Detention and imprisonment provide reasonable time for reflection. How did I get
here? Where did I go wrong? What could I do better if I had my time over again?
These are but a few of the questions we encourage not only our Students and
Auxiliary Paralegals to pose to themselves but also to suggest other inmates ask
themselves too
Engaging in this process whilst studying the law, tends to leave a person better
informed of the relevant answers. This is particularly pivotal for crimes such as
Defilement (Statutory Rape) and Domestic Violence. The legal definitions of those
crimes and their required ingredients are not well known and are actually very
surprising (in Ugandan Law, not only is physical violence alone considered Domestic
Violence, excessive nagging, belittling or withholding of household expenses qualify
too).
Many convicted of these offences were unaware their actions constituted an offence
until their arrest. Hopefully, through their conduct of Legal Awareness sessions in
prison and upon release (as Community Paralegals in any Community & Police
Stations Outreach Programme that might be instituted) they might alert others
in the community who might otherwise fall foul of the law allowing them to modify
their behavior before they offend.
It is these aspects – to better understand their own journey through the Criminal
Justice System, to help others and to improve themselves, that leads ‘Lawbreakers’
to study law at times.

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38. Do Jailhouse Lawyers and Law Students Cause Agitation Against
the System?
Taking on any Student or Auxiliary Paralegal requires the recommendation of the
Officer-in-Charge of that prison unit.
Absent such recommendation as to leadership, academic ability, good conduct and
intent, no inmate will be taken on in either role. In this way and – in line with our
ethos, no ‘agitation’ against the system is possible although change does occur.
39. What Would an Ex-Con Do with a Law Degree After All?
Prisons have a punitive objective and increasingly, as Correctional Facilities, a
rehabilitative one too. This said, anyone exiting prison following pardon, early
release or termination of sentence is legally, and probably morally, considered to
have ‘paid their debt’ to society or better still, been rehabilitated.
If an inmate acquires a Law Degree whilst in prison and then is released, the law
considers that person rehabilitated and therefore of ‘Good Character’. If a person is
of sufficiently ‘Good Character’ to be released from prison as rehabilitated, why
wouldn't that person – logically, be of sufficient ‘Good Character’ to be admitted to
the local Bar (subject to meeting all academic and vocational requirements)?
Previously in the South African cases of Re: Krause and Incorporated Law
Society, Transvaal v. Mandela (1954), a convicted murderer and someone
convicted of civil disobedience (both lawyers) were able to still practice their
professions without being disbarred.
In the latter case, the court stated
“in suspending an attorney …. convicted of ... crime the Court is not punishing him
for his offence; for that he has already been sentenced . . . the sole question [is
whether the crime for] which the respondent was convicted shows him to be of
such character that he is not worthy to remain in the rank of an honorable
profession.”
Based on the above, we argue that an Ex-con can have a career as a lawyer. They
would still need to be admitted to practice at the bar and found suitable for
admittance in all respects. Nelson Mandela was and I am sure all would agree that
was a great thing.

For more information on this paper, the programmes mentioned within or any other information
concerning African Prisons Project, please feel free to contact:

Karen SAIDI on +2567501660428 (Whatsapp) or via saidikaren@africanprisons.org or

Emmanuel James OTENG on +256753864870 (Whatsapp) or via emmanueloteng@africanprisons.org

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