Isolation or quarantine measures must be proportionate, authorised in law and not result in de facto solitary confinement Any decision to quarantine or isolate people in detention should only be taken following an independent medical assessment and be proportionate to the risk posed. This assessment should be transparently communicated with the persons concerned. Furthermore, the medical assessment should allow for the measure to be time limited. Quarantines should only be imposed if no alternative protective measure can be taken by the prison management to prevent or respond to the spread of the infection. During isolation or a quarantine, the conditions and regime should at a minimum, meet the standards set out in the UN Nelson Mandela Rules. During a quarantine or isolation there should be open and clear communication by prison management, including in regard to the provision of food, drinks, sanitary items and medicine, and contact with the outside world. Fair trials and the right to legal counsel Measures limiting access to prisons and quarantines may in effect prevent people in prison from attending their court hearings, meetings with parole boards or meetings with their legal counsel, which is particularly relevant for people in pre-trial detention. In Israel, all entries and exits from the Moscovia Detention Centre were blocked pending test results. The prison has stated it will not take detainees to court. In New York (US), following court orders, inmates held at Metropolitan Correction Center will not be admitted in court if they have high temperatures.14 In the State of Washington (US), federal courts in Tacoma and Seattle have postponed jury and grand jury trials in response to the coronavirus.15 In Italy, as most criminal trials are suspended, there will be closed courtrooms without defendants held in pre-trial detention present to prevent spreading of ‘Coronavirus: Federal Judge In NY Orders Inmates To Get Temperatures Checked’, 9 March 2020, available at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/coronavirusfederal-judge-in-ny-orders-inmates-to-gettemperatures-checked/ar-BB10SB9M. 14 COVID-19 to other people in detention, raising concerns of fair trial guarantees. No health measure can in any case justify restrictions to meet with legal counsel. If prison management is under the impression that lawyers should not access the facilities, they must at least ensure that lawyers can speak with their clients in an unhindered way online or over the phone. Blanket measures restricting access to courts and legal counsel are inadmissible and effectively keep some individuals who could see their sentence reduced or who could qualify for early release being detained, and therefore at risk of the serious consequences of being in prison during a COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, pausing or slowing down criminal justice processes results in more people being detained, increasing levels of overcrowding and pressure on detaining authorities. ‘Federal courts for Western Washington cancel jury trials amid coronavirus outbreak’, 6 March 2020, available at https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article24 0974361.html#storylink=cpy. 15 Page 8 of 13 www.penalreform.org