The issue regarding prisoners' rights to use personal computers in their prison cells came under the spotlight in the Constitutional Court, with the prison authorities challenging an earlier ruling in favour of the use of computers by prisoners in their cells for studying purposes.
Lawyers for Human Rights represented an inmate in an appeal brought by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and two others against a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment granting the inmate client the right to use his personal computer in his prison cell without an internet connection in order to further his studies.
In 2018, the inmate instituted proceedings in the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, against correctional services, challenging the provisions of the department’s policy prohibiting the use of personal computers in cells, even without an internet connection.
The inmate wished to further his studies and required a personal computer to do so, which he was not allowed to use. He argued that the prohibition is unconstitutional and unfairly discriminated against him because he is incarcerated, and infringed his constitutional right to further education.
In September 2019, the court handed down judgment in favour of the inmate.
The state parties appealed this judgment to the SCA, which ruled in favour of the inmate.
The SCA ordered in its judgment that within 12 months from the date of the order, the department must, after consultation with the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services, prepare and promulgate a revised policy for the correctional centres permitting the use of personal computers in cells for study purposes.
In its reasoning, the court held that the provision of the policy that prohibits the use of personal computers in cells infringes the rights of prisoners to further education where such prisoners require the use of personal laptops to pursue their studies.
The SCA also ordered that pending the revision of the department’s policy, registered students in a correctional centre are entitled to use their personal computer in their cell without an internet connection for as long as they remain a registered student with a recognised tertiary or further education institution in South Africa.
But the department maintained that this posed a security risk. It argued that it is sufficient and in keeping with the right to further education that studying prisoners be restricted to the use of computers in the computer room at prisons.
The court was told that the department did not prohibit prisoners who needed computers for their studies from using them under supervision in the designated area, and it thus did not infringe on the rights of prisoners to study. Justice Leonora Theron asked the department during its arguments on Thursday whether there were not any less restrictive measures available than simply banning inmates from using their computers in their cells.
The department responded that as things stand, there are no practical measures it can take to mitigate a security risk when computers are used in a cell. The court was told that by using them in a designated computer centre at prisons, there are guards who physically monitor the situation.
The department said the illegal usage of cellphones by inmates already posed a security risk, and they did not want to add to this risk by allowing them to also have computers in their cells.
The court was told that even if they were not allowed to have modems, it was still a security risk to allow computers in the cells. Thus, the department said, its policy is a complete prohibition on using a computer in a cell, and it does not allow for exceptions.