› Interaction of ss 47, 47B, 47C and 47D — mixed contents
Administrative law
› Judicial review
› Declaratory relief — utility and discretion
Quick Take
1Where an envelope sent to a prisoner contains an unauthorised article (here, a USB storage device) and the Governor cannot ascertain from the outside of the envelope whether the sender is a person listed in s 47(1)(m) of the Corrections Act 1986 (Vic), the Governor is not obliged to open the envelope to separate permissible from impermissible contents; returning the entire envelope unopened to the sender is lawful under s 47D(2)(a).
2The power under s 47D(2)(b) of the Corrections Act 1986 (Vic) to censor only part of a letter necessarily presupposes that the Governor knows the letter was sent by a person not listed in s 47(1)(m) and can lawfully open it under s 47C; where that precondition cannot be established, the partial censorship power is not enlivened.
3A decision-maker in a prison setting can satisfy the procedural limb of s 38(1) of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) by applying legislation, regulations, Commissioner's Requirements and operational instructions that themselves reflect proper consideration of relevant human rights, consistently with the hierarchical approach endorsed in Thompson v Minogue [2021] VSCA 358.
