1. PRISON MANAGEMENT WHY IT IS IMPORTANT Effective prison management Prison authorities need to have information about those held in custody to plan and provide for general living conditions, plan and provide for rehabilitative programmes within the facility and to plan and assign resources, including fulfilling staffing and budgeting requirements. Such information can also be useful in planning individual staffing responsibilities, identifying recruitment priorities and assessing staff training needs. 03 Effective prisoner file management is an essential prerequisite for the proper classification and allocation of prisoners, as well as for carrying out their individual needs and risk assessments, all of which contribute to prisoner rehabilitation, reintegration and the reduction of recidivism. Information about the nature of the offence, sentence length and ongoing behaviour in prison should therefore be taken into account in ongoing personal support and training programmes for prisoners and for responding to physical and mental health needs. 04 On a broader scale, such information can be helpful in determining prison-wide budgets, health and safety considerations and the overall delivery of vocational training, education, and rehabilitation programmes. Prisoner filing systems can also greatly assist with day-to-day planning of meal requirements, cell allocation and transportation needs, including if a prisoner is due to attend a court hearing or hospital appointment. 05 On a national level, the data collected from prisoner files can help prison managers and policy-makers identify trends, including country-wide issues and disaggregation by sex, age and other features, which need attention. This might include, for example, trends in prison populations, including overcrowding, the use of particular types of punishment, rises in incidents of suicide, self‑harm and inter-prisoner violence, or an increase in the number of requests or complaints related to a particular matter. 1 02 Fairness and due process 06 If prisoner files are inaccurate, or if they are not regularly updated and consulted, prisoners might miss court hearings, deadlines for filing appeals and other matters related to the case against them. Prisoner file management systems play an important role in preventing errors that might lead to violations of due process and fair trial rights. 07 The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has emphasized that the maintenance of complete and reliable records of persons deprived of their liberty is “an essential condition for the effective exercise of due process guarantees, such as the right to challenge the legality of detention (habeas corpus), and the right of the detainee to be brought before a judge promptly.”6 08 Failure to maintain accurate files and the absence of a valid commitment order, can lead to situations in which detainees are held in excessive pre-trial detention, are detained beyond their due release dates or miss the opportunity to apply for sentence reductions and pardons. 09 Proper file management plays a key role in ensuring that prisoners are held lawfully, that they are never tried twice for the same offence (double jeopardy) and that they are not punished more than once for the same disciplinary offence. For more information on disciplinary procedures, see Chapter 4, paragraphs 01–41. 10 Information related to the judicial process, including details about legal representation can assist prison authorities in identifying prisoners who are in need of legal aid, and enable them to facilitate this access. 6. Report on the visit of the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in Punishment to Ukraine (SPT), 16 March 2016, CAT/OP/UKR/1, para. 50. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules 11