Mental health services in prisons – Article 14 Both the Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman are partners in New Zealand’s National Preventative Mechanism in addition to being partners in the IMM. Through our Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) inspections we have grave concerns about the lack of a systematic approach to prisoners experiencing mental illness. We have made it clear to both the Corrections Service and the Ministry of Health that we expect them to develop an overall framework that outlines how the individualised/specialised projects underway, fit into the larger picture of improved mental health services in prisons. Back to top. Seclusion and restraint – Article 14 The Chief Ombudsman published his Report ‘A Question of Restraint’ into the use of tie-down beds in the New Zealand Prison Service in March 2017. The report found that the general management of at-risk prisoners in New Zealand was substandard and detrimental. In 2017, the Human Rights Commission published ‘Thinking outside the Box: A review of seclusion and restraint practises in New Zealand’ which made a number of recommendations for agencies employing seclusion and restraint in New Zealand. Night Safety Procedures are used in health and disability places of detention and are the practice of locking a patient in their room during the night. It is a restrictive practice. It is not clear whether the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003 is fully compliant with the Convention, particularly with respect to its enabling provisions relating to compulsory care and seclusion. In 2016 the NZ media reported on two cases of children being put in seclusion rooms at school. Seclusion at schools has since been made unlawful. The Chief Ombudsman recently published the outcome of an investigation into incidents of seclusion at a particular school.20 The Ministry of Education issued ‘Guidelines on Managing Behaviour’, including the use of restraint. The IMM is interested to follow the progress of schools under this new regime. Back to top. Immigration – Article 18 People are being refused New Zealand residency on the grounds that they do not meet an acceptable standard of health: including a number of children born in NZ to non-New Zealand residents. Applicants for residence class visas are considered to have an acceptable standard of health if, among other things, they are unlikely to impose significant costs or demands on New Zealand’s health services or special education services. Currently, there is a list of 20 http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/newsroom/item/opinion-on-ruru-school-seclusion-complaint Page 15