Criminal Justice Act 1961

38 Construction of references to sentences of imprisonment, etc.

(1) Except as provided by subsection (3) of this section, the expression " sentence " in this Act does not include a committal for default or the fixing of a term to be served in the event of default, or a committal or attachment for contempt of court.

(2) For the purposes of any provisions of this Act referring to a person who is serving or has served a sentence of any description, the expression " sentence " includes—

(a) in any case, a sentence of that description passed by a court in Scotland, Northern Ireland, any of the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man ; and

(b) in the case of imprisonment, a sentence passed by a court-martial on a person found guilty of a civil offence (within the meaning of the Naval Discipline Act, 1957, the Army Act, 1955, or the Air Force Act, 1955), and a sentence which is treated by virtue of the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 1884, as a sentence passed by a court in England and Wales.

(3) For the purposes of Part III and of sections twenty-two and thirty-four of this Act—

(a) the expression " imprisonment or detention " means imprisonment, corrective training, preventive detention, borstal training or detention in a detention centre;

(b) the expression " sentence " includes a sentence passed by a court-martial for any offence, and any order made by any court imposing imprisonment or detention, and " sentenced " shall be construed accordingly.

(4) For the purposes of any reference in this Act to a term of imprisonment or of detention in a detention centre or to a term of imprisonment or detention, consecutive terms and terms which are wholly or partly concurrent shall be treated as a single term.

(5) For the purposes of this Act (and of any enactment referred to in Part III of this Act)—

(a) a sentence of penal servitude passed in any of the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man shall be treated as a sentence of imprisonment for the like term;

(b) a sentence of detention in a borstal institution passed as aforesaid shall be treated as a sentence of borstal training;

(c) a sentence of death passed by any court (including a court-martial) on a person subsequently pardoned by Her Majesty on condition of his serving a term of imprisonment or penal servitude shall be treated as a sentence of imprisonment or penal servitude passed by that court for that term ; and

(d) without prejudice to paragraph (c) of this subsection, any reference to a person on whom a sentence of any description has been passed includes a reference to a person who under the law of any part of the United Kingdom, any of the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man is treated as a person on whom a sentence of that description has been passed ;

and " sentenced " shall be construed accordingly.