By Jon Silverman Legal affairs analyst

The European Court ruling that punishments handed out by prison governors in England and Wales were unlawful has certainly not been a surprise to those at the top of the prison service.

Since the Human Rights Act came into force in October 2000, there have been regular conferences of senior managers to consider the impact of the legislation on practices in the service.

For the prison authorities, the immediate concern is finding an alternative mechanism for disciplining

Governors' adjudications, as they are known, were high on the list for scrutiny.

Indeed, governors in Scotland were advised to stop using their powers to punish a year ago for that very reason.

So, why did their counterparts south of the border continue a practice which was bound to bring them into conflict with Strasbourg?

Doubts over damages

Professor David Wilson, a criminologist and former governor who handed down "thousands of adjudications " in his time with the service, has a theory.

Speculation that [compensation] could run into millions may be wide of the mark

"In the current penal climate, I think it suited the Home Office and prison service to be forced into abandoning this power rather than relinquish it of their own volition and be open to criticism that they were being spineless."

So, apart from the release of some 900 inmates who would otherwise still be behind bars, what are the consequences of the ruling?

The question of compensation is uppermost in people's minds. But speculation that it could run into millions may be wide of the mark.

The obvious precedent is the 1998 Appeal Court judgment that prisoners who had had the length of their sentence wrongly calculated were entitled to compensation.

Figures of many millions of pounds were being bandied about but the claims never materialised.

Disciplinary panel likely

And in the present case, even if a substantial number of inmates succeed in obtaining legal aid for claims of false imprisonment, they will almost certainly be vigorously contested by the Treasury Solicitor on the grounds that governors were merely applying the rules in force at the time.

Sometimes, the punishments were unfair and disproportionate

Professor David Wilson

For the prison authorities, the immediate concern is finding an alternative mechanism for disciplining recalcitrant inmates. It looks as if this will involve setting up an independent panel.

Ironically, Boards of Visitors used to exercise this function - in tandem with the governor - but gave it up a decade ago because they felt it blurred their role within the prison.

Professor Wilson points out that some governors, "the poor managers", as he puts it, will be unhappy about losing their ability to discipline in this way because it enabled them to appear supportive to their staff, "even if sometimes, the punishments were unfair and disproportionate".