(353)  SLOPPY GOVERNMENT IN THE PRISONS?

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On 26 April 2004 Lord Bonomy in the Court of Session held that the practice of prisoners ‘slopping out’ in Scottish prisons violated Articles 3 (cruel and unusual punishment) and 8 (privacy) of the ECHR.  His opinion was highly critical of Scottish Executive decisions to spend money on combating drug trafficking and other measures when it had the choice to upgrade prisons to appropriate standards.  The ruling was expected to lead to many damages claims by prisoners against the Scottish Executive.