Read the full judgment text of HCAL 000140/2004 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 16 August 2005 before Hartmann J.
Constitutional and administrative law – judicial review – prisoner rights – medical treatment – Rastafarian religious music – disciplinary proceedings – CCTV recording – natural justice – Prison Rules – Cap.234 – removal from association – Prisoner at Stanley Prison serving 18 years for drug trafficking who has been engaged in extensive litigation concerning conditions of detention – Whether prison medical authorities acted unlawfully in not providing chiropractic treatment for prisoner's congenital back condition (scoliosis and blocked vertebrae at C2-3 and T5/T6) – Whether seizure of three cassette tapes of Bob Marley/reggae music said to be integral to the Rastafarian faith was unlawful under Section 23(1) of the Prison Rules – Whether disciplinary proceedings for assaulting another prisoner with a plastic stool were vitiated by the adjudicating officer's refusal to consider a CCTV recording of the incident – Whether the decision to return the prisoner from the special/protection section to the normal prison population was unreasonable – Held, medical treatment challenge dismissed: treatment must be professional and adequate but need not be luxurious, and the medical officer's decision-making was within the discretion conferred by Rule 143 of the Prison Rules where three consultants (Dr Poon, Dr Lam the chiropractor, and Mr Yip the orthopaedic specialist) had examined the applicant and the prison staff had followed specialist advice; Mr Yip specifically did not recommend chiropractic or physiotherapy treatment – Held, Rastafarian music tapes challenge dismissed: reggae music integral to the Rastafarian faith but applicant bore the burden of showing the specific commercial albums were religious; he failed to provide supporting evidence and refused to cooperate when invited to make further representations; prison authorities acted rationally – Held, CCTV challenge allowed: the adjudicating officer's refusal to consider the CCTV recording at the applicant's request on the sole ground it was not yet an exhibit was a material unfairness, the matter would not be remitted because no one had bothered to look at the tape despite ample notice, and all punishments imposed (21 days loss of remission, 7 days forfeiture of privileges, 7 days separate confinement, 21 days deprivation of earnings) were quashed – Held, return to normal association challenge allowed in part: under Rule 68B(9) the Superintendent may arrange for resumption of association, but the recommendation was based on a misreading of the applicant's self-written statement of 11 December 2002 (which expressly refused to return) and was made before completion of Mr Tse's risk assessment report which ultimately recommended continued removal for the applicant's own protection; declaration granted that the decision was unlawful – One further substantive challenge and consequential remedies reserved.
Legal issues: Lawfulness of prison medical treatment for back condition · Lawfulness of confiscation of Rastafarian music tapes · Material unfairness from refusal to consider CCTV recording in disciplinary proceedings · Lawfulness of decision to return prisoner to normal association
Outcome: Medical treatment challenge and Rastafarian music challenge dismissed. Disciplinary proceedings held to be vitiated by material unfairness, with all punishments imposed quashed. Declaration granted that the decision to return the applicant to normal association on 23 December 2002 was an unlawful decision. One further substantive challenge and any consequential remedies reserved to a future hearing.
Cited by 3 cases · Cites 1 case