This Practice Note has been archived and is no longer maintained. This Practice Note explains the scope and impact of Article 5(4) of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) on the rights of prisoners. It considers the scope of Article 5(4), procedural fairness, (ie specific procedural guarantees for matters of deprivation of liberty which are distinct from the procedural guarantees of ECHR, Art 6), a prisoner’s right to an oral hearing and a speedy determination once proceedings are commenced, delay in the context of IPP prisoners (those serving a period of imprisonment for public protection), the requirement to provide a real opportunity for rehabilitation via eg offending behaviour courses and how the Secretary of State’s failure to provide access to relevant courses, may render a prisoner’s detention ‘unlawful’, damages or compensation which can be awarded for a violation of a prisoner's Article 5(4) rights, and issues under ECHR, Art 3 of Protocol 1.