C.14 Email legal correspondence

This process is only for urgent legal correspondence from legal advisers, 20 double-sided printed pages total (i.e. 20 double-sided pages is 40 pages) or less that cannot be delivered, mailed, or couriered within a court-imposed timeframe. Urgent is defined as the prisoner having a court-imposed deadline to meet (e.g., a court appearance or filing deadline) within the next seven calendar days. Correspondence may include information such as legal instructions, notice of appeals or urgent materials, such as bail or PAC reports, which may require an urgent response.

C.14.01 Receiving legal correspondence by email

1. Staff managing e-mailed legal correspondence requests will use the following checklist:

C.14.02 Printing legal correspondence from email

1. When all the checklist requirements are met, the legal correspondence can be printed and delivered:
   

   Action	Requirement	Option
   Print then material as requested.	Staff printing legal correspondence must be present for the printing to ensure that the legal privileged material is kept confidential. Printed material must not be left unmonitored e.g. on the printer, a desk etc. Staff must not look at the material except as required to collate it. No printing is to occur in residential units.
   Process the printed material as legally privileged mail.	Print the cover email from the legal adviser and attach it to the outside of the envelope, this acts as the cover letter. For legally privileged information use the “legal correspondence” stamp accordingly. Use the internal mail process or the site-specific process used for delivering legal correspondence.
   Email and documents should be processed and delivered as promptly as possible.	The prisoner should receive the material no more that 3 working days after receiving the email. If the legal adviser requests that the prisoner receives the legal correspondence urgently (for example, same day) they must explain why in their email. Staff should try and facilitate as best they can to the requested date depending on operational requirements.	Email the lawyer to confirm the prisoner has received the document.
   Once actioned. delete the email.	Legal privileged information must not be stored in personal or shared G-drives.	Sites may wish to keep a register of correspondence received and delivered for their records.
   Note: It is not a requirement for staff to confirm the prisoner has received the documents. If the lawyer has requested confirmation the prisoner has received the material, it is encouraged to respond if possible.

If staff notice that a legal adviser is repeatedly not adhering to the email legal correspondence process or appears to be trying to abuse the process (for example by delaying sending correspondence until close to the deadline, or sending multiple emails withing 20 pages, i.e. part one of two, part two of two), then the legal adviser should be reminded of the guidance that was communicated to the legal profession. ([C.14.Res.01 Communication to legal professional emailing legal correspondence]).

If this non-adherence to the process continues, staff should escalate the concerns to the relevant site contact for continued discussions with the legal adviser where consideration may be given to refusing to process emailed legal correspondence from the legal adviser.

C.14.03 Sending legal correspondence from email

1. Legal advisers may often communicate with prisoners via email which may result in the prisoner asking staff to e-mail their legal adviser on their behalf. There are many risks associated with this including:
   1. Inadvertently breaching confidentiality in legally privileged information.
   2. Misinterpreting messages between prisoners and their lawyer.
   3. Being deliberately misled by prisoners around messaging to lawyers.
2. As per section 76(1) of the Corrections Act 2004 a prisoner may send and receive as much mail (which means hard copy mail) as they wish, and this should be the method a prisoner is encouraged to respond to any legal adviser e-mail communication. Prisoners also have access to the Corrections Prisoner Telephone System (CPTS), and Non-CPTS Telephones and are also encouraged to use these methods to communicate with their legal advisers.
3. In certain circumstances, a prisoner's legal adviser may request that documentation be signed and returned via email under urgency. Any signed documents must be returned to the legal adviser through the same e-mail address it was received.
4. Unless there is an urgent administration requirement as specified in the table below, staff must not email a prisoner’s legal adviser on their behalf.
   
   

   Action	Requirement
   Prisoner requests staff to send an e-mail on their behalf to their legal adviser. I.e. dictating a message from the prisoner to write in an e-mail to then be sent to the legal adviser, or a prisoner giving a note to staff to write in an email to their legal adviser or asking for a specific message to be emailed to their legal adviser.	Do not facilitate this. Offer the prisoner an alternate method to talk to their lawyer (i.e. phone call) or remind them about the mailing system.
   Legal adviser requests urgent documentation be signed by prisoner and returned.	Legal adviser to advise what is being requested and the reason for the urgency.
   Legal adviser needs the prisoner to sign a statutory declaration or swear / affirm an affidavit.	Inform the legal adviser of the site requirements for sworn / affirmed / witnessed signatures and facilitate as per site-specific process.