Prison Service Instructions and Orders

Answer

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Prison Service Instructions and Orders

There are a number of rules, regulations and guidelines by which prisons are run. These are outlined in Prison Service Instructions (PSIs) and Prison Service Orders (PSOs).

Prison Service Orders (PSOs)

These were issued until 31 July 2009. They were mandatory instructions with no expiry date, and remained in force until cancelled. Existing PSOs will remain in force until replaced.

Prison Service Instructions (PSIs)

From 1 August 2009, all Prison Service operating instructions are published as PSIs. They have a fixed expiry date. Prior to 1 August 2009, PSIs were issued to convey short term instructions or amendments to PSOs and had a maximum validity of 12 months.

In March 2012, Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 2012-10 was amended significantly to authorise solicitors to take their own IT equipment into prisons and work digitally with their clients. See paragraphs 5.19-5.28 and annex 2 section B.

Most PSIs and PSOs are available free on the Justice website. Some instructions are not published and not available for security reasons.

PSIs and PSOs are not legislation. For more information, see Livingstone et al, Prison law, 4th ed. (2008), paras. 1.47-1.50.