ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES The experts agreed that the list provided in Rule 8 should be read as an indicative rather than an exhaustive list: a) Information related to the judicial process, including dates of court hearings and legal representation; b) Initial assessment and classification reports; c) Information related to behaviour and discipline; d) Requests and complaints, including allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, unless they are of a confidential nature; e) Information on the imposition of disciplinary sanctions; f) Information on the circumstances and causes of any injuries or death and, in the case of the latter, the destination of the remains. The requirement to keep records on searches, ‘in particular strip and body cavity searches and searches of cells, as well as the reasons for the searches, the identities of those who conducted them and any results of the searches’, is enshrined in Rule 51. The experts clarified that records should also include participation in work or educational activities and the use of force, arms and/or restraints. Information related to behaviour and discipline could include comments on prisoners’ rapport with others, sudden behavioural changes etc. which could be useful in later assessments of whether behavioural difficulties may be related to mental health issues.103 The prisoner file should include information about good behaviour and positive achievements in line with the rehabilitative purpose of imprisonment and need for ongoing individual assessments with regard classification, rehabilitation programmes and information relevant for conditional release (Rule 93). While keeping comprehensive records was perceived as an important tool of good prison management, the experts noted the risk of creating an over-bureaucratic system in which staff spend more time doing paperwork than interacting with prisoners, providing security or facilitating rehabilitation programmes. The Essex group also stressed that in order to maintain a comprehensive prisoner file, personnel needs to be equipped with the skills to operate such a system.104 Extraction of general data on trends The Essex group discussed Rule 10, which states that prisoners’ files should be used to generate data about trends in the prison population and occupancy rates. The importance of extracting general data has been captured, for example, in the 2010 Survey of the United Nations and other Best Practices in the Treatment of Prisoners in the Criminal Justice System. It states that ‘Collecting data about prisoners and prisons and developing information management systems can (…) better inform criminal policies and help to monitor compliance The UK’s Assessment, Care in Custody, and Teamwork (ACCT) care planning system was given as a good practice example. Under the ACCT any member of staff who receives information, including that from family members or external agencies, or observes behaviour which may indicate a risk of suicide/self-harm, must open an ACCT plan. 103  See, for example, Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to New Zealand, 28 July 2014, CAT/OP/NZL/1, para. 46, documenting that the ‘lack of skills by personnel to effectively operate the system [Integrated Offender Management System] might affect data entry and record keeping of prisoners’ information’. 104  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 33