5. CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD Who should be able to visit? 22 As the concept of “family” differs from one culture to another, it should not be interpreted rigidly, and should include non-immediate family members, as well as those in non-traditional family structures. PROMISING PRACTICE: FAMILY VISITS IN GEORGIA [5.4] Until 2010, Georgia’s Law on Imprisonment only provided for immediate family members to visit their relatives in prison. However, the adoption of the 2010 Code on Imprisonment broadened the scope of family visits, with Article 17.2 allowing for any prisoner to meet “close relatives” for visits lasting one to two hours. The visits take place under electronic or direct visual surveillance, but are not listened to by the authorities. Denial of this right must be justified in writing to the prisoner. step-mothers, step-fathers, partner’s parents, partner’s child, foster children and their offspring, grandchildren, sisters and brothers, nephews, nieces and their children; grandparents, parents of grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and any person with whom the prisoner has lived and led a common household. According to recent changes to the Code of Imprisonment, as a form of incentive, a prisoner can meet with others not included in the list of Close relatives are defined as sons and daughters, close relatives, based on the prison director’s spouses, a person who is a parent to a prisoner’s recommendation and on the decision of the head child; parents (including adoptive parents), of the penitentiary department. 23 The notion of “friends” should be interpreted broadly to include individuals that the prisoner wants to see. Access should also be facilitated with NGO staff members, religious representatives274 and volunteer visitors from the community. Particular efforts should be made to facilitate such visits for those who have no family or who do not want their family and friends to visit, or whose family and friends are unable or unwilling to visit them. CONTEXT: THE RIGHT TO PRIVATE AND FAMILY LIFE – ECTHR [5.5] The ECtHR has interpreted the right to private and family life in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as not confined to legally acknowledged relationships: “Forms of cohabitation or personal relationships which are not recognized as falling in the ambit of ‘family life’ in the jurisdiction of a contracting state can still enjoy protection by Article 8; family life is not confined to legally acknowledged relationships. The Court is led by social, emotional and biological factors rather than legal considerations when assessing whether a relationship is to be considered as ‘family life’”.275 Prison administrations should carefully consider the requirement for individuals to be named in official documents as members of the prisoner’s family or to provide proof of family connection. Such arrangements can pose problems in countries where not everybody possesses an identification document and may disproportionately affect minority groups, refugees and stateless people. 25 The Bangkok Rules state that, “[i]n view of women prisoners’ disproportionate experience of domestic violence, they shall be properly consulted as to who, including which family members, is allowed to visit them.” 276 Such safeguards could be applied to all prisoners, particularly those known to have been victims of abuse before their detention. 26 If prison authorities have doubts about the authenticity of a visitor, then they should check with the prisoners before allowing the visit to proceed. Prisoners can also initiate the request for a named visitor, or be consulted on a list of approved visitors. Whichever system is in place, the decision on who can visit or not should lie with the prisoner, unless authorities have well-founded concerns against a particular visitor. 5 24 274. See: The Mandela Rules, op. cit., note 1, Rules 65 and 66 for more information on access to religious representatives. 275. Right to Family Life, European Convention on Human Rights at echr-online.info/right-to-family-life. 276. The Bangkok Rules, op. cit., note 28, rule 44. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules 121