5. CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD Means of notification 134 When a prisoner is transferred to another detention facility or to hospital, family members or other emergency contacts should be informed before the actual transfer takes place. Notification of the transfer should be noted in the prisoner case file. In cases of serious injury or illness it is good practice for the prison administration to notify the relevant emergency contacts, because prisoners are unlikely to be able to do so themselves. 135 In case of transfer, family members should be notified in advance. This avoids the possibility that visitors arrive at the detention facility only to find that the prisoner has been moved. It also makes it easier for family members to arrange to visit or call the prisoner soon after arrival at the new facility. In cases where the form of communication is not immediate, such as with postal services, sufficient time should be given so that the family receives the communication before the transfer takes place. 136 Prisoners must be given access to telephones, writing materials, and electronic means of communication where available, in order to make contact with family or others in the event of imprisonment, transfer and serious illness or injury. It is the responsibility of the prison administration to provide prisoners with the ability and means to notify their contact person, and to assist them if they cannot afford to, or otherwise lack the ability to do so without help. 137 Rule 70 states that the prison administration should inform a prisoner immediately of the serious illness or death of a close relative or significant other. In order for such intimate news to be delivered sensitively, the prison administration could give a family or close contact the opportunity to inform the prisoner directly. 138 The Human Rights Council Resolution on the rights of the child, adopted in March 2012, emphasizes the need to ensure that children outside prison or their legal guardians are also kept informed of the place of their parent’s imprisonment, as well as any transfer or other developments.332 Attending bedsides and funerals The term “whenever circumstances allow” in Rule 70 should be interpreted favourably and take into account the social and emotional significance of attending to sick relatives, especially in cases of severe illness and funerals. 140 When making arrangements for the transport of a prisoner to attend the beside of a near relative or loved one, authorities should, as far as possible, consider cultural norms and implications, such as the usual time a person might expect to sit with a sick or dying loved one, and the different types of mourning and funeral arrangements. 141 Prisoners should be able to wear their own clothes when attending sickbeds or funerals. 5 139 138 CONTEXT: ATTENDING FAMILY FUNERALS – ECTHR CASE [5.15] In the case of Kanalas vs Romania, the ECtHR found that authorities had breached the applicant’s right to respect for private and family life by rejecting his request for leave in order to attend his mother’s funeral. The prison director had rejected his request on the grounds that his remaining sentence was too long and that he had already been rewarded in the same month for his conduct. Significantly, the Court found that “measures of temporary leave could contribute to the social rehabilitation of prisoners, even where they had been convicted of violent crimes” and that “the principle of limiting rewards to one per month did not apply in the case of permission for prison leave to attend the funeral of a family member.” The Court also observed that the prison administration had not examined the possibility of providing Mr. Kanalas with an escort to the place of the funeral, and concluded that “the national authorities had not weighed in the balance the various interests at stake, namely Mr. Kanalas’ right to respect for his family life, on the one hand, and public safety, or the prevention of disorder or crime, on the other”.333 332. Rights of the child, General Assembly resolution 19.37, 19 April 2012. 333. European Court of Human Righs, Kanalas v. Romania, Application no. 20323/14, 6 December 2016. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules