Prisons Act · 2015 Revised Edition · Part V · Employment and Prison Discipline
49. Punishment of aggravated prison offence by Chief Officer
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
An Officer-in-Charge, if of or above the rank of Chief Officer, may punish any prisoner found after due inquiry to be guilty of an aggravated prison offence, by ordering him to undergo one or more of the following punishments —
Officer-in-Charge
“Officer-in-Charge” means any prison officer not below the rank of Principal Officer who is in charge of any prisons;
corporal punishment with a rattan not exceeding such amount as may be prescribed;
confinement in a cell on the prescribed restricted diet for a term not exceeding such period as may be prescribed;
forfeiture of remission not exceeding such amount as may be prescribed;
reduction in stage, or forfeiture of privileges, or postponement of promotion in stage, or removal from the earnings scheme, or reduction in earnings grade, for such period as may be prescribed:
stage
“stage” means any stage of imprisonment prescribed by rules made under this Act;
Provided that —
Prisons
corporal punishment, whether inflicted under this section or under section 50, shall be inflicted in accordance with such rules as may be prescribed;
corporal punishment shall not be inflicted save for mutiny or for offences involving personal violence to prison officers, other prisoners, any other person;
corporal punishment shall not in any case be inflicted on a person under sentence of death, upon males over 50 years of age or upon females; and
no order for the infliction of corporal punishment shall be carried out unless it has been confirmed by the
Minister.
Punishment by Director or by Visiting Justices. [GN 68/1985]
Terms defined in s 2
aggravated prison offence
Defined · s 2“minor prison offence” and “aggravated prison offence” mean any offence committed by a prisoner against prison discipline and so specified in the rules made under this Act;
Director
Defined · s 2“Director” means the Director of Prisons appointed under section 10 and includes the Assistant Director of Prisons;
Officer-in-Charge
Defined · s 2“Officer-in-Charge” means any prison officer not below the rank of Principal Officer who is in charge of any prisons;
prison
Defined · s 2“prison” means any house, building, enclosure, or place or any part thereof, declared to be a prison under section 3;
prisoner
Defined · s 2“prisoner” means any person, whether convicted or not, under confinement in any prison;
stage
Defined · s 2“stage” means any stage of imprisonment prescribed by rules made under this Act;
Part VI
Discipline as Affecting Prison Officers
Part VII