Stephen Shaw,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 26 March 1953) is former

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman The 'Prisons and Probation Ombudsman'' (PPO) is a public body, in England and Wales, appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice to investigate complaints from prisoners, those subject to probation supervision, young people in detention (prison ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. He was first appointed Prisons Ombudsman in October 1999; from 1 September 2001 his remit was extended to take in complaints against the

National Probation Service The Probation Service (formerly the National Probation Service) for England and Wales is a statutory criminal justice service, mainly responsible for the supervision of offenders in the community and the provision of reports to the criminal cour ...

(NPS) from those under supervision in the community. His remit was further extended to take in complaints from those in

immigration detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a v ...

in October 2006. He departed in April 2010. Shaw’s time in office as ombudsman covered a period in which the role’s responsibilities and independence increased. In 2003, Alan Travis noted in UK newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', "His predecessor, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Woodhead, had his powers so clipped by the former Conservative home secretary, Michael Howard, that the small and little-known club that is the British and Irish Ombudsmen Association refused him membership on the grounds that he was not independent enough". In 2003-04, Shaw personally led the investigations into a number of

deaths Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

in prisons in England, the first time such deaths had been investigated independently. From 1 April 2004 the Ombudsman’s office has been responsible for the investigation of all deaths in prisons and immigration removal centres, as well as the deaths of residents of NPS hostels (approved premises). Shaw’s office conducted around 200 such investigations each year. The office also has a

discretionary power In a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government, a reserve power, also known as discretionary power, is a power that may be exercised by the head of state without the approval of another branch or part of the government. Unlike in a ...

to investigate post-release deaths. In 2009, Shaw chaired two public inquiries into serious self-harm incidents that have not resulted in death (he stepped down from the second of these in June). These "near deaths" may also invoke the investigative obligation under Article 2 of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...

. As Ombudsman, Shaw conducted a range of other investigations including the major inquiry into the

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...

and disturbance that occurred at

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre is a detention centre for foreign nationals prior to their deportation from the United Kingdom, one of 10 such centres currently in the UK. It is located near Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire, England, and i ...

in February 2002. He also served as one of two independent members of the Parole Board’s review committee that considers the cases of released prisoners who have committed serious further offences. In February 2015, the Home Office announced that Shaw would be conducting "an independent review of policies and procedures affecting the welfare of those held in immigration removal centres", with Home Secretary

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

citing Shaw’s "wealth of relevant experience". Prior to becoming Prisons Ombudsman, Shaw was director of the

Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust (PRT) was founded in 1981 in London, England, by a small group of prison reform campaigners who were unhappy with the direction in which the Howard League for Penal Reform was heading, concentrating more on community punis ...

charity for eighteen years.

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* Living people Alumni of the University of Kent Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 1953 births Prisons and Probation Ombudsmen of England and Wales People educated at Rutlish School {{UK-crime-bio-stub