Apparently, it happens more often than people might think. For example, the dock officer must take the defendant down to the cell area to be processed for release, which requires the prison staff to perform the necessary checks and calculations. Sometimes the prison does not respond. Delays can occur.
Dempster & Benn offer practical advice on what to do in this and other scenarios where a client is being detained unlawfully. They remind practitioners that ‘it lies on the detaining authority to show the lawful ground for detention, not on the detainee to justify their release’.
The authors write: ‘It is our professional duty to act quickly to ensure that unlawful detention is treated seriously and not merely as an “occupational hazard” arising from, for example, a sentence passed late in the day.’
