Prison Act 1865
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
(28 & 29 Vict.) C A P. CXXVI.
[6th July 1865]
'WHEREAS it is expedient to consolidate and amend the Law relating to Prisons inEngland: ' Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows:
Preliminary.
1 Short Title.
1. This Act may be cited for all Purposes as ‘ThePrison Act, 1865.’
2 Commencement of Act.
2. This Act shall come into operation on the First Day ofFebruary One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, which Day is herein-after referred to as the Commencement of the Act.
3 Application of Act.
3. This Act shall not extend toScotland or Ireland , and shall not apply to the Prisons for Convicts under the Superintendence of the Directors of Convict Prisons, or to any Military or Naval Prison.
4 Definition of Terms.
4. In this Act, and in any Act applied or incorporated by this Act, the Expressions herein-after mentioned shall have the Meanings herein-after attached to them, unless there is something in the Tenor of the Act inconsistent with such Meanings; that is to say,
‘ MunicipalBorough’ shall mean any Place for the Time being subject to the Municipal Corporation Act passed in the Session of the Fifth and Sixth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty KingWilliam the Fourth, Chapter Seventy-six, and any Acts amending the same, and ‘Borough’ shall include ‘Municipal Borough:’
‘ Prison’ shall mean Gaol, House of Correction, Bridewell, or Penitentiary; it shall also include the Airing Grounds or other Grounds or Buildings occupied by Prison Officers for the Use of the Prison and contiguous thereto:
‘ Gaoler’ shall mean Governor, Keeper, or other Chief Officer of a Prison:
‘ Clerkof the Peace’ shall include any Officer performing similar Duties to those of a Clerk of the Peace:
‘ Treasurer’ shall include any Officer performing Duties similar to those of Treasurer:
‘ QuarterSessions’ shall include ‘General Sessions:’
‘ CriminalPrisoner’ shall mean any Prisoner charged with or convicted of a Crime.
5 Description of ‘Prison Authorities.’
5. The Persons herein-after named shall be Prison Authorities for the Purposes of this Act; that is to say,
1. As respects any Prison belonging to any County, except as herein-after mentioned, or to any Riding, Division, Hundred, or Liberty of a County, having a separate Court of Quarter Sessions, the Justices in Quarter Sessions assembled:
2. As respects any Prison belonging to a County divided into Ridings or Divisions, and maintained at the common Expense of such Ridings or Divisions, the Justices of the County assembled at a Court of Gaol Sessions held in manner provided by the Act of the Fifth Year of KingGeorge the Fourth, Chapter Twelve:
3. As respects any Prison belonging to the City ofLondon , or the Liberties thereof, the Court of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen:
4. As respects any Prison belonging to a Municipal Borough, the Council of the Borough:
5. As respects any Prison belonging to any District, Liberty, City, Borough, or Town having a separate Prison Jurisdiction, and not herein-before mentioned, the Justices, Council, or other Persons having Power at Law to build, enlarge, or repair such Prison, assembled at any Gaol Session or other formal Meeting of their Body.
6 Definition of ‘Justices in Sessions assembled.’
6. The Expression ‘Justices in Sessions assembled’ shall mean as follows; that is to say,
1. As respects any Prison belonging to any County, except as herein-after mentioned, or to any Riding, Division, Hundred, or Liberty of a County, having a separate Court of Quarter Sessions, the Justices in Quarter Sessions assembled:
2. As respects any Prison belonging to any County divided into Ridings or Divisions, and maintained at the common Expense of such Ridings or Divisions, the Justices of the County assembled at Gaol Sessions:
3. As respects any Prison belonging to the City ofLondon , or the Liberties thereof, the Court of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen:
4. As respects any Prison belonging to any Municipal Borough, the Justices of the Borough assembled at Sessions to be held by them at the usual Time of holding Quarterly Sessions of the Peace, or at such other Time as they may appoint:
5. As respects any Prison belonging to any City, District, Borough, or Town having a separate Prison Jurisdiction, and not herein-before mentioned, the Justices or other Persons having Power at Law to make Rules for the Government of such Prison.
7 Contracts, &c by Prison Authority in Counties.
7. The Provisions of the Act of the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, Chapter Ninety-two, shall apply to all Contracts, Mortgages, or Conveyances entered into or executed in pursuance of this Act by or on behalf of or with the Justices of any County, Riding, Division, Hundred, or Liberty of a County in General or Quarter Sessions assembled; and in the Construction of that Act the Expression ‘Justices in Quarter Sessions assembled’ shall include the Justices of the County in Gaol Sessions assembled, in pursuance of the Act of the Fifth Year of KingGeorge the Fourth, Chapter Twelve, and shall also include the Bailiff and Justices of the Liberty of Romney Marsh assembled at any Sessions or Meeting. And all Contracts, Mortgages, or Conveyances entered into or executed in pursuance of this Act by or on behalf of or with any other Prison Authority shall be entered into and executed in manner in which such Instruments or Deeds are usually entered into by such Authority.
PART I.
The Maintenance and Government of Prisons.
Obligation to maintain Prisons.
8 Maintenance of Prisons by separate Prison Jurisdiction.
8. There shall be provided, at the Expense of every County, Riding, Division, Hundred, Liberty, Franchise, Borough, Town, or other Place having a separate Prison Jurisdiction, adequate Accommodation for its Prisoners in a Prison or Prisons constructed and regulated in such Manner as to comply with the Requisitions of this Act in respect of Prisons.
All Expenses incurred by a Prison Authority in carrying into effect the Provisions of this Act shall be defrayed out of the County Rate, or Rate in the Nature of a County Rate, Borough Rate, or other Rate leviable in the County, Riding, Division, Hundred, Liberty, Franchise, Borough, Town, or other Place having a separate Prison Jurisdiction, and applicable to the Maintenance of a Prison, or out of any other Property applicable to that Purpose.
9 Definition of separate Prison Jurisdiction.
9. For the Purposes of this Act every County, Riding, Division, Hundred, Liberty, Franchise, Borough, Town, or other Place shall be deemed to have a separate Prison Jurisdiction which maintains a separate Prison, or would be liable at Law to maintain a separate Prison if Accommodation were not provided for its Prisoners in the Prison of some other Jurisdiction.
Where a County is divided into Ridings or Divisions, and a Prison is maintained at the common Expense of such Ridings or Divisions, that County shall in relation to such Prison, and for the Purposes thereof, be deemed to have a separate Prison Jurisdiction, notwithstanding a separate County Rate is not levied in such County at large.
Appointment of Officers.
10 Officers of Prison.
10. There shall be appointed to every Prison by the Justices in Sessions assembled,
A Gaoler; a Chaplain, being a Clergyman of the Established Church; a Surgeon, duly registered as such, under the Act of the Session of the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Years of the Reign of Her present Majesty, Chapter Ninety; and such subordinate Officers as may be necessary.
And to every Prison in which Females are confined,
A Matron and such subordinate Female Officers as may be necessary.
Provided, that in a Prison where Females only are imprisoned the Matron shall be deemed to be the Gaoler, and shall, so far as is practicable, perform all the Duties and be subject to all the Obligations of a Gaoler in relation to such Prison.
11 Appointment of Chaplain to Two Prisons.
11. The same Person may officiate as Chaplain of any Two Prisons situate within a convenient Distance from each other, if such Prisons together are calculated to receive not more than One hundred Prisoners; but the Chaplain of more than One Prison, and the Chaplain of any Prison in which the average Number of Prisoners confined at any One Time during the Three Years next before his Appointment has not been less than One hundred, shall not, whilst holding his Chaplaincy, hold any Benefice with Cure of Souls or any Curacy.
12 Assistant Chaplains and Deputy Gaoler.
12. The Justices in Sessions assembled may appoint an Assistant Chaplain, being a Clergyman of the Established Church, and a Deputy Gaoler, or either of such Officers, to any Prison which they deem sufficiently large to require the Appointment of such Officers or either of them.
13 Notice to be sent to Bishop as to Chaplains and Assistant Chaplains.
13. Notice of the Nomination of a...
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