Irish High Court finds ‘sloping out’ in breach of constitutional right to privacy

The Irish High Court has found that the constitutional right to privacy of a former prisoner has been breached by the practice of ‘slopping out’ in Mountjoy Prison.

The prisoner, Gary Simpson, claimed he was subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment over 8 months in 2013 when he was forced to slop out in front of fellow prisoners in shared single cells with no in-cell sanitation or running water. Under 23 hour lock up, Mr Simpson used basins and other items as a toilet and emptied then the next day.

In his judgment, Mr. Justice Michael White stated that a prisoner’s rights, while restricted, were not “totally set at nought”. He outlined that neither the practice of slopping out nor the lack of running water in a cell had been found to be unconstitutional but held that given the “unique set of circumstances”, namely the restricted space in the cell due to the “doubling up” of prisoners, the practice did amount to a breach of his constitutional right to privacy. Judge White noted that the cell overcrowding was a result of ongoing refurbishment of the prison designed to improve conditions. However, Judge White believed means could have been employed, such as a modesty screen, to better respect the right to privacy of prisoners. Judge White also noted a clear direction from the Inspector of Prisons which provided for 23-hour lock up in doubled up cells only in exceptional circumstances.

Judge White refused to make a declaration that the Mr Simpson was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment under the European Convention on Human Rights, and could not accept previous such findings of the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture.

The Court further refused to grant damages on account of the lack of credibility of Mr Simpson’s testimony.

Judge White emphasised that the case should not be considered a test case and that each case would be decided on its own specific circumstances. Some 1,263 similar cases had been lodged with the State Claims Agency as of last year.

The exact wording of the order will be delivered at a later date.

Click here for an Irish Times article on the case.

 

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