Palmer v Australian Capital Territory (No 2) [2023] ACTSC 340

• Plaintiff kept in overflow area of prison for several days without access to exercise area or shower facilities – injured by prison officers during forcible removal from cell after becoming angry and smashing window in door or cell – whether use of force necessary and reasonable in circumstances of case.
• Chief Justice acknowledged conditions challenging and stressful for prisoners and staff presenting difficult management issues: at [1]-[12]
• [7] … It has been acknowledged that imprisonment is often “seriously detrimental for the prisoner” and can exacerbate behavioural problems: Boulton v R [2014] VSCA 342; 46 VR 308 at [108]–[109] (Maxwell P, Nettle, Neave, Redlich and Osborn JJA).

[8] …Custodial isolation and overcrowding risks exacerbating mental illness, as noted in the Inquiry into Victoria’s Criminal Justice System (2022) at pg 594 (cited in the Bugmy Bar Book chapter on “Impacts of Imprisonment and Remand in Custody”):

Practices such as use of isolation, restricting visits from family and friends, overcrowding, poor access to health services and programs, and negative interactions with correctional officers have a significant impact upon mental health. The psychiatric impacts of prison are particularly acute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For example, Aboriginal women in prison are hospitalised for mental illness at triple the rate of Aboriginal women in the community.

…

[12] This dangerous, intractable tension between the rights of prisoners and the safety of corrections officers will continue so long as full-time imprisonment remains the primary form of punishment for serious offences and prisons continue to be overcrowded, under-resourced and unable to offer prisoners any real opportunities for education and reform.

• Concluded use of force not necessary and reasonable – awarded damages for injuries.