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The prison system of England and Wales has undergone significant change since the mid 1970s. The High Court has extended its jurisdiction to intervene in all aspects of prison life, spurred on by decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. The Woolf Report, produced in response to the 1990 prison riots, has succeeded in defining the agenda for reform into the next century. Furthermore, the introduction of contracted out prisons and the move to Executive Agency status for the Prison Service has led to a radical change in the culture of the Service after a century of existing as a traditional, public sector monopoly subject to close ministerial control. This text provides a guide to the law of imprisonment and the legal position of prisoners in England and Wales. It offers an exhaustive account of the existing law as it affects all aspects of imprisonment, together with a critical analysis of the relationship between law and prisons, with comparisons drawn from the American prison system and the law of the European Court of Human Rights. The potential impact of the forthcoming Human Rights Act is considered throughout the book. This edition includes chapters on: health care in prisons; detention under the Immigration Act; life sentence prisoners; security classification; and women prisoners.