The Right to Counsel in Prison Disciplinary Hearings

n 1985 the Federal Court of Appeal, in the case of Re Howard and Presiding Officer of the Inmate Disciplinary Court of Stony Mountain Institution, ruled that in certain circumstances a prison had the right to representation by legal counsel in prison disciplinary hearings. This right flows from principles of fundamental justice now constitutionally entrenched in section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Potentially, this is the most significant prison decision thus far rendered by a Canadian court. The purpose of this article is to locate the Howard decision within a dual framework of evolving correctional law and the daily practise of justice in Canadian prisons. In so doing the author provides a further opportunity to consider the crucial question of the roles of the law, the courts, and lawyers, within prison walls.