Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953

N.I. Rules

13 F1 Rules for the management of prisons. N.I.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act the [F2 Department] may make rules to be styled “prison rules” for—

(a) the administration, regulation and management of prisons;

(b) the classification, segregation, accommodation, maintenance, clothing, treatment, training, employment, discipline, punishment and control of persons required to be detained in prisons;

(c) the temporary release, with or without suspension of the currency of the sentence, of persons serving a sentence of imprisonment; …F3 [F4 , or a person ordered to be detained in a young offenders centre];

(d) the photographing, measuring [F4 , palm-printing] and finger-printing of persons sentenced to be detained in prisons;

(e) the conduct, duty and discipline of the staff of prisons;

[F5 (f) the functions of independent monitoring boards;]

and different prison rules may be made for different prisons or classes of prisons.

(2) Prison rules shall make provision for ensuring that a person who is charged with any offence under the rules shall be given an opportunity of answering the charge.

(3) Prison rules may provide for the training of particular classes of persons.

(4) Prison rules shall provide for the special treatment of the following persons while required to be detained in a prison, that is to say—

Paras. (a)(b) rep. by 1968 c. 29 (NI); para. (c) rep. by 1980 NI 10; para. (d) rep. by 1968 c. 29 (NI)

(e) any …F6 person detained in a prison, not being a person serving a sentence or a person imprisoned in default of payment of a sum adjudged to be paid by him on his conviction [F4 or a person committed to custody on his conviction].

• Subs. (5) rep. by 1968 c. 29 (NI)

• Subs. (6) rep. by 2005 NI 15

(7) Prison rules may make provision whereby a person serving such a sentence or for such a term as may be prescribed by the rules, may, on the ground of his …F7 good conduct, be granted remission of such part of that sentence or term as may be so prescribed; and on the discharge of a person from a prison in pursuance of any such remission his sentence shall expire.

[F8 (7A) Prison rules may not provide for—

(a) the grant of remission to a person imprisoned or detained in default of a payment of a sum adjudged to be paid by or imposed on his conviction of an offence or a sum treated for the purposes of any statutory provision as if it were a sum so adjudged or imposed;

(b) the grant of remission to an offender in respect of a period of imprisonment under paragraph 5 or 6 of Schedule 3 to the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 (supervised activity order).]

(8) A copy of the relevant prison rules shall be posted in a conspicuous place in every prison.

(9) The [F2 Department] may by prison rules make provision for any other matter which appears to the [F2 Department] to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of carrying this Act into effect.

F1 1968 c. 20

F2 Word in s. 13 substituted (12.4.2010) by Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/976), arts. 1(2), 6(1), Sch. 4 para. 2(3) (with arts. 28-31); S.I. 2010/977, art. 1(2)

F3 1968 c. 29 (NI); 1980 NI 10

F4 1968 c. 29 (NI)

F5 2005 NI 15

F6 1980 NI 10

F7 1976 NI 4

F8 S. 13(7A) inserted (1.6.2018) by Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 21), ss. 32(1), 61(2) (with s. 32(4)); S.R. 2018/99, art. 2(a)

S. 14 rep. by 1968 c. 29 (NI); 1976 NI 4