Wed, 11 Nov 2020
Stuart Withers is celebrating two successes in his prison law practice.
First, Stuart is proud to announce the publication of two guides published by the Prisoners’ Advice Service.
The two guides: A Prisoner’s Guide to LGB Rights and A Prisoner’s Guide to Trans Rights were authored by Stuart and have been produced in association with letter-writing charity, Bent Bars and close working with Jane Ryan at Bhatt Murphy Solicitors. They are made available through the kind support of The Tudor Trust and The Paul Cottingham Trust.
The toolkits, are the first such publications to address specifically the needs of prisoners who are LGBT+. They will be launched at PAS’ first online event on 23 November 2020 at 5pm. To register for the event, use the following link, or copy and paste into your browser: https://cooley.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zyaGvFYcQjGMQImC9VgDBQ
Hosted by Cooley LLP, the event will see a panel of the legal and academic experts who wrote and contributed to the publications discuss the needs of LGBT+ prisoners and the 2019 prison framework, with particular reference to transgender prisoners. Both toolkits are being made available in all prison libraries in England and Wales and may be downloaded from PAS’ website, www.prisonersadvice.org.uk.
DOWNLOAD THE LGB GUIDE DOWNLOAD THE TRANSGENDER GUIDE
Second, on 4 November 2020 Stuart appeared in the High Court in a claim for a judicial review representing a prisoner: R (Lawrence) v Parole Board CO/2358/2020. The claim concerned the Parole Board’s refusal to hold an oral hearing to determine the Claimant’s application for release. Following submissions from Stuart, Mrs Justice Stacey quashed the decision to not hold an oral hearing and ordered an expedited hearing to take place by 15 January 2021. Stuart was instructed by Matthew Bellusci of Duncan Lewis Solicitors.
