Prison Management

The Department of Justice is the authority responsible for providing, maintaining, and the general regulation, direction, and superintendence of prisons and prisoners. The Secretary of State may continue to exercise functions that he exercised immediately prior to the devolution of policing and justice functions, notwithstanding the transfer of those functions to the Department under the Order.

The areas in which the Secretary of State may exercise functions are those related to national security. Where accommodation of prisoners in separated conditions on the ground of safety, security, or good order is provided, decisions about whether a prisoner is to be so accommodated or cease to be so accommodated and setting of criteria, certain activities regulated, or relating to the subject matter of the Regulatory and Investigatory Powers Act.

The Secretary of State may continue to make Prison Rules. The Department is to exercise functions, subject to powers exercised by the Secretary of State, and in particular, Prison Rule.

The Department has administrative powers as are necessary for the administration and maintenance of prison. It may provide equipment and supply and make arrangements for the welfare, employment, and training of prisoners. It shall appoint governors, other officers, and staff as appears necessary.

The members’ remuneration and conditions of service of persons appointed are determined by the Department of Justice with the approval of the Department of Finance and Personnel. The Department, with the approval of the Department of Finance, may enlarge, rebuild, or repair, alter and build new prisons. It may acquire land by agreement.

The Department may provide suitable accommodation for the temporary detention of persons awaiting trial or sentence. A legal instrument delivered to the governor of a prison and identifying the prison by its situation is deemed sufficient.

The Department is to prepare an annual return on the administration of the legislation and lay it before the Assembly. It is to contain a statement of the condition of prisons and prisoners, a statement of accommodation of each prison and the daily average and the highest number of prisoners contained, particulars of work done by prisoners in each prison including the kinds and quantities of articles produced by persons employed; a statement of punishments inflicted in imprisonments and the offences for which they are inflicted.

Every prison officer, while acting as such, has the powers, authority, protection, and privileges of a constable.

Where there are prisoners of a particular religious denomination, which in the opinion of the Department require the appointment of a minister of that denomination, the Department shall so appoint. It may allow a minister of any denomination to visit prisoners of his denomination to which no minister of that denomination has been appointed. A prisoner shall be visited against his will by a minister.

Prisoners shall, in accordance with the arrangements in force in a prison in which he is confined, be permitted to attend religious service held there in or be visited by a minister of his denomination appointed or permitted to visit prisoners.

The governor of a prison, on reception of a prisoner, is to record his denomination, if any, to which he declares. He is to give to any minister appointed or permitted to visit prisoners a list of prisoners who have declared themselves as belonging to his denomination.

The minister is not to be permitted to visit any other prisoners except with the permission of the governor, at the special request of the person concerned. The ministers may be paid remuneration as the Department considers reasonable.

The Department is to appoint independent monitors for each prison, young offenders center, and remand center. Two of the monitors must be women in the case of women’s prison.

The Department may make prison rules. They may provide for the administration, regulation, and management of prisons, classification, segregation, accommodation, maintenance, clothing, treatment, employment, discipline, punishment, and withdrawal of prisoners; temporary release with or without suspension of the sentence; photographing, measuring, palm printing, fingerprinting; conduct, duty, and discipline of the prison staff; functions of the independent monitoring boards.

Prison rules shall make provision to ensure that the person charged with an offence is given the opportunity of answering the charge. They may provide for training of particular classes of persons. Rules may make provision whereby a person may be granted remission of a prison sentence on the grounds of good conduct.

A prisoner sentenced by any court or committed to prison on remand or pending trial may, notwithstanding anything else, be lawfully confined in any prison provided by the department. A person so committed may be removed from one prison to another.

Where a person is in custody of a constable, it is the duty of the constable to take the person to a prison in which his detention is authorized by law. If it is not practicable to do so, for any reason, the person may be detained in the custody of the constable until such time as he may be admitted to that prison or is required to appear before a court.

The Department may, if satisfied that the attendance of any place of persons detained in prison is desirable, direct him to be taken to that place. The Department may direct that detained persons requiring medical aid, investigation, surgery, treatment of any description be taken to a hospital or suitable place for the purpose of such investigation, observation, or treatment.

He is deemed to be in custody while being so taken and while at that place. The person may be discharged at the expiration of the sentence without necessitating return.

A person sentenced to imprisonment or to be detained in a young person’s center or on remand pending trial is deemed to be in lawful custody of the governor of the prison in which he is detained. He is deemed to remain in lawful custody while working outside the prison under the control of an officer or while temporarily detained pending trial.

If an authorization is in force, designated prison officers may test prisoners for alcohol. They may be required to give breath samples and other samples. While an authorization is in place, officers may, in accordance with prison rules, require persons to give urine samples for the purpose of detecting the presence of controlled drugs.

If the Department is satisfied by reason of a prisoner’s ill health that it is undesirable to detain him in prison but that such condition has held, is due in whole or in part to his own conduct, imprisonment and it is desirable that his condition be temporary and conditional only, it may authorize a temporary discharge, subject to conditions. If the prisoner fails to comply with the conditions, he may be returned to prison for the remainder of the term or such extended period as may be fixed by order of the Department. He may be arrested without warrant and taken to prison.