The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Prisons Act, 1873.”

This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, which day is hereinafter referred to as the commencement of this Act.

In this Act the expressions in this section after mentioned shall have the meanings in this section attached to them, unless there is something in the context or the tenor of this Act inconsistent with such meaning:—

Upon the commencement of this Act, there shall be repealed the Ordinance and the Acts specified in the First Schedule hereto, to the extent in the said Schedule mentioned.

No repeal hereby enacted shall affect—

Any sentence passed, or other act or thing duly done, under any Ordinance or Act hereby repealed.

Any right acquired or liability incurred under any Ordinance or Act hereby repealed.

Any penalty forfeiture or other punishment incurred in respect of any offence against any Ordinance or Act hereby repealed, or any regulations made thereunder.

Any proclamation appointment rule regulation order or direction made under any Ordinance or Act hereby repealed. Any such proclamation appointment rule regulation order or direction may be rescinded altered or otherwise dealt with as if the same had been made under this Act; and all rules in force in any prison that are inconsistent with this Act shall be repealed from and after the commencement of this Act, but all other rules in force in any prison shall so continue until altered in manner in this Act provided.

All houses buildings enclosures and places which immediately before the commencement of the Act were public gaols or prisons of the Colony, within the meaning and for the purposes of any Ordinance or Act repealed hereby, shall continue and be public prisons of the Colony notwithstanding such repeal.

The Governor may from time to time as to him shall seem meet, by Proclamation published in the New Zealand Gazette, declare any house building enclosure or place to be a public prison, and from and after the publication of any such Proclamation in the New Zealand Gazette, or from any later time specified in the Proclamation, such house building enclosure or place shall be deemed to be a public prison.

As to any public prison which the Governor shall be of opinion has become unfit for the purpose, or unnecessary, or for any other reason ought to cease to be a public prison, the Governor may by Proclamation published in the New Zealand Gazette, declare that such public prison shall no longer be a public prison, and upon the publication of such Proclamation in the New Zealand Gazette, or from and after any later date fixed in such Proclamation for the purpose, such public prison shall cease to be a public prison.

The Governor may from time to time, by Proclamation published in the New Zealand Gazette, appoint any hulk ship or floating prison (hereinafter referred to as “hulk”) to be used as and to be a public prison for the reception and safe keeping of prisoners convicted and sentenced for any offences by any Court in New Zealand, and may from time to time define, by Proclamation published as aforesaid, the limits and boundaries around such hulk within which no person shall come, and the place of embarking and landing prisoners to and from such hulk, and any such Proclamation as aforesaid may from time to time be altered or revoked by the Governor.

The Governor may from time to time, by Proclamation published in the New Zealand Gazette, appoint any place or places in New Zealand at which male offenders under any sentence of penal servitude may be kept, and may in like manner revoke any such Proclamation, and every place so appointed shall be deemed to be a public prison, but only for male offenders under such sentence as aforesaid; but whether such place or places shall have been appointed or not, such male offenders may be kept in any public prison.

From time to time as occasion may require, there shall be appointed to every prison by the Superintendent of the Province within which the same is—

and to every prison in which females are confined—

Provided that as to places appointed to be prisons under the tenth section of this Act, the appointment of the gaoler, surgeon, and other officers shall be made by the Governor, and not by such Superintendent as aforesaid.

Every officer of a public prison under this Act, not being a prison appointed under the tenth section hereof, shall hold his office during the pleasure of the Superintendent of the Province in which the gaol is, and shall be paid such salary as such Superintendent shall direct out of moneys appropriated for the purpose by the Provincial Council of such Province.

Every officer of a public prison appointed under the tenth section hereof shall hold his office during the pleasure of the Governor, and be paid such salary as the Governor shall direct out of moneys appropriated for the purpose by the General Assembly.

Whenever any officer of a prison is suspended or removed from or resigns his office or dies, the officer so suspended removed or resigning, and his family and the family of every such deceased officer, shall quit the possession of the house or apartments in which he or they have previously resided by virtue of such office, when required so to do by notice under the hands of two or more of the Visiting Justices; and if he or they neglect to give such possession for forty-eight hours after such notice as aforesaid has been given to him or them, any two Justices, upon proof made to them of such suspension removal resignation or death, and of the service of such notice, and of such neglect or refusal to comply therewith, may, by warrant under their hands, direct any constable, within a period therein named, to enter by force, if necessary, into such house or apartments, and deliver possession thereof to the Superintendent of the Province in which the prison is, or if the prison be appointed under the tenth section of this Act, then to some person appointed by the Colonial Secretary to receive such possession.

The Governor may from time to time, by Proclamation published in the New Zealand Gazette, make rules as to him shall seem fit touching the duties of the officers of public prisons, the construction and description of cells for separate confinement or punishment of persons confined in public prisons and the certifying the same as fit for the purpose, and the safe custody, the classification, hours of labour, mode of employment separation diet instruction treatment and correction of the prisoners confined in public prisons, and for regulating what labour or employment shall be deemed hard labour, and for classifying such labour; and generally to prescribe all such rules as may be necessary for the good management and government of such prisons, and the discipline and safe custody of the prisoners therein, and not only while therein but also while employed at labour beyond the limits of the prison; and such rules may be made to apply generally to all prisons or to any one or more prisons specified in any such Proclamation, as the Governor may think fit; and the Governor may from time to time alter or revoke any such rules as aforesaid, or any rules regulations orders or directions in force in any prison at the commencement of this Act.

In the making of such rules as to diet, regard shall be had, so far as relates to convicted criminal prisoners, to the nature of the labour required from or performed by such prisoners, so that the allowance of food may be duly apportioned thereto.

In every prison containing female prisoners as well as males, the women shall be imprisoned in separate buildings or separate parts of the same buildings in such manner, in so far as practicable, so as to prevent their seeing conversing or holding any intercourse with the men.

In a prison where debtors are confined, means shall be provided for separating them altogether from the criminal prisoners.

Any person in custody under sentence of imprisonment with hard labour or penal servitude may be employed at hard labour beyond the precincts of the prison in which he may be lodged; and every such person, notwithstanding such employment, shall, as respects the provisions of this Act, be deemed to be within the limits of the prison in which he shall be lodged.

Every person who shall be kept in penal servitude shall, during the term of his servitude, be employed at hard labour in some public prison, or on the roads or public works, or otherwise be kept to hard labour in such part of New Zealand as the Governor shall in that behalf direct, and either in irons or under such other restraint and subject to such correction as may appear to the Governor to be necessary for his safe custody and strict discipline.

For the purpose of being so employed as aforesaid, every such convict may be removed from place to place, either by sea or land, and may be confined in such public prison, at such penal establishment, or in such place of confinement, or otherwise be kept in custody as the Governor shall from time to time direct.

The Governor may, by any instrument under his hand, delegate to the Superintendent of any Province, on such terms and conditions and subject to such limitations and restrictions as may be prescribed in that behalf, all or any of the powers in this section conferred on the Governor.

The Governor may, in addition to any regulations made under the fifteenth section hereof, from time to time make any such rules as to him shall seem fit specially applying to prisoners under sentence of penal servitude, touching the employment safe custody management and discipline of the convicts under sentence of penal servitude.

Any Visiting Justice or Resident Magistrate shall have power to hear complaints respecting any offences by any prisoner against any rules made under either the fifteenth or the twenty-first sections of this Act, and may examine any person touching such offences and determine thereupon, and may punish such offences by ordering any offender to be kept in close or other confinement, either with or without irons, for a time to be specified, and that either in a light or dark cell, or part of the time in a dark cell and part in a light cell, but the time of confinement in a dark cell shall not exceed forty-eight hours, or by ordering the offender to wear irons while working either inside or outside the prison for a time to be specified, or to be fed upon bread and water only, during any time not exceeding fourteen days, or by ordering any two or more of such punishments, or by ordering such offender to forfeit in addition to any such punishment a number of marks earned under rules for remission of portions of sentences, such number not to exceed such number as under such rules it is necessary to earn fourteen days remission of sentence.

Any Visiting Justice or Resident Magistrate imposing any such punishments shall enter in a separate book, called the “Punishment Book,” a statement of the nature of any offence that he has punished in pursuance of this section, with the addition of the name of the offender, the date of the offence, and the amount of punishment.

If any criminal prisoner is guilty of repeated offences against any of the said rules made under the fifteenth or the twenty-first sections of this Act, the Gaoler shall report the same to the Visiting Justices or one of them; and any two of such Justices, or any Resident Magistrate having jurisdiction in the place in which the prison is, shall have power to inquire upon oath and to determine thereupon, and to order the offender to be kept at hard labour with or without irons for any term not exceeding one year, and in their discretion to be kept in solitary confinement for any portion of such term not exceeding one month in periods none of which shall exceed one week and which shall be at intervals of at least one week, and may direct that during such confinement such prisoner shall be deprived of any particular portion of the ordinary diet or allowances of such prisoners, or forfeit the whole or any number of marks earned by such prisoners under rules for earning remission of portion of sentences by good conduct, or in the case of prisoners convicted of felony or sentenced to hard labour or penal servitude, by personal correction not exceeding fifty lashes at any one time.

Such period of imprisonment or solitary confinement as aforesaid shall not be deemed or taken as part of the period of imprisonment or hard labour or penal servitude to which such prisoner shall have been previously sentenced.

No prisoner shall be put in irons or under mechanical restraint by the gaoler of any prison except in case of urgent necessity, and the particulars of every such case shall be forthwith entered in the gaoler’s journal, and notice forthwith given thereof to one of the Visiting Justices; and no prisoner shall be kept in irons or under mechanical restraint for more than twenty-four hours without an order in writing from a Visiting Justice, specifying the cause thereof and the time during which the prisoner is to be kept in irons or under mechanical restraint, which order shall be preserved by the gaoler as his warrant.

All corporal punishments within the prison shall be attended by the gaoler and the surgeon. The surgeon shall give such orders for preventing injury to health as he may deem necessary, and it shall be the duty of the gaoler to carry them into effect; and the gaoler shall enter in the punishment-book the hour at which the punishment is inflicted, the number of lashes, and any orders which the surgeon may have given on the occasion.

No punishment or privations of any kind shall be awarded except as aforesaid by a Visiting Justice or Resident Magistrate.

Every person who aids any prisoner in escaping or attempting to escape from any prison, or who rescues or attempts to rescue, or aids in rescuing or attempting to rescue, any prisoner from the custody of any gaoler warder overseer or other officer of a prison, whether such prisoner shall be in such custody within or outside of such prison, or who, with intent to facilitate the escape of any prisoner, conveys or causes to be conveyed into any prison any mask dress or other disguise, or any letter or any other article or thing, shall be guilty of felony, and on conviction be sentenced to penal servitude for a term not exceeding ten years, or to imprisonment with hard labour for a term not exceeding two years; and if any person shall convey or cause to be conveyed into any prison any mask or other disguise, or any instrument or arms proper to facilitate the escape of any prisoner, and the same shall deliver or cause to be delivered to any prisoner in such prison, or to any other person therein for the use of such prisoner, without the consent or privity of the keeper of the prison, every such person shall be deemed to have delivered such mask or disguise, instrument or arms, with intent to aid and assist such prisoner to escape or attempt to escape.

Any person who shall commit any of the offences following shall be liable to be punished and dealt with as in this section hereinafter provided:—

Any. person who shall, contrary to the regulations, bring or attempt to bring any wines or spirituous or fermented liquors into any prison;

Any person who shall hold or attempt to hold any communication with any prisoner undergoing sentence;

Any person who shall deliver, or in any manner whatsoever endeavour or attempt to deliver or cause to be delivered, to any such prisoner, or shall introduce or attempt or endeavour to introduce or cause to be introduced, into any public prison, any money article of clothing letter tobacco or any other article or anything whatsoever not allowed by the rules and regulations for the time being in force for the classification diet instruction treatment correction and safe custody of the prisoners therein, or for the good discipline of such prison;

Any person who shall for any of the purposes aforesaid lurk or loiter about any road or other public works, or any public prison, or any place in or at which prisoners may be confined or employed, and any person loitering about any such public prison road or works or other such place as aforesaid, who shall refuse or neglect to depart therefrom upon being duly warned by any constable gaoler warder or authorized person so to do, shall be deemed and taken to be lurking or loitering about such public road or works for the purposes aforesaid;

Any person who shall deliver or cause to be delivered to any other person any such money article of clothing letter tobacco article or thing, for the purpose of being conveyed or introduced as aforesaid;

Any person who shall secrete or leave upon or about any place where any such prisoner as aforesaid is usually employed, any such money article of clothing letter tobacco article or thing for the purpose of being found or received by any such prisoner;

Any person who shall in any other manner convey or cause to be conveyed to any such prisoner any such money article of clothing letter tobacco article or thing; or

Any person who knowingly harbours any prisoner who has escaped from prison or custody as aforesaid;

shall be liable to be apprehended without warrant by any constable gaoler turnkey warder or other person in whose charge or custody any such prisoner may then be, without warrant, and be by such constable or other person detained and kept in safe custody until be can be brought before any Resident Magistrate or before two or more of Her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace, who shall have power to hear and determine such offence, and, upon conviction, any such offender shall for any such offence forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, and in default of payment or in the discretion of such Resident Magistrate or Justices be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for any period not exceeding three months.

Every officer of a prison who suffers any spirituous or fermented liquor or tobacco to be sold or used therein contrary to the prison regulations, on conviction, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, or both, in the discretion of the Court, and shall, in addition to any other punishment, forfeit his office and all arrears of salary due to him.

Every officer who, contrary to the regulations of a prison, conveys or attempts to convey any letter or other document, or any article whatever not allowed by such regulations, into or out of any prison, shall on conviction incur a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, and shall forfeit his office and all arrears of salary due to him; but this section shall not apply in cases where the offender is liable to a more severe punishment under any other provision under this Act.

The Visiting Justices shall cause to be affixed, in a conspicuous place outside the prison, a notice setting forth the penalties that will be incurred by persons committing any offence in contravention of the three preceding sections.

If any person who shall have been sentenced to be kept in penal servitude for any term other than for life shall be afterwards at large within any part of New Zealand, without some lawful cause, before the expiration of the term of such servitude, every such offender so being at large, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be kept in penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years, to commence and be computed from the expiration of the term of the original sentence.

If any male offender who shall have been sentenced to be kept in penal servitude for the term of his life, or who having been convicted of any capital offence shall have had his sentence commuted to penal servitude for life, or shall have had mercy extended to him on condition of his being kept in penal servitude for life, shall afterwards be found at large within any part of New Zealand without some lawful cause, every such offender so being at large, and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall be kept in solitary confinement during such periods not exceeding one month at a time or for three months in the space of one year, in periods of one month, at intervals of at least one month each, as the Court shall direct.

Whoever shall discover and prosecute to conviction, or shall give such information as shall lead to the conviction of any offender being at large contrary to the provisions of the two last preceding sections of this Act, shall be entitled to a reward not exceeding twenty pounds, at the discretion of the Judge, for every such offender so being convicted.

Any prisoner confined in a prison whose term of imprisonment would according to his sentence, or the rules relating to remission of sentences for good conduct or otherwise, expire on any Sunday, shall be entitled to his discharge on the Saturday next preceding such Sunday, and every gaoler of every prison having the custody of any such prisoner as aforesaid is hereby required and authorized to discharge such prisoner on the Saturday next preceding any such Sunday. All sentences of imprisonment on any offenders convicted at any criminal sittings of the Supreme Court shall date from the first day of holding such sittings, and all other sentences of imprisonment from the date of signing any warrant of commitment under which any offender is detained in custody, unless such prisoner was at large at the date of signing such warrant, in which case the sentence shall date from the time of arrest of the prisoner.

Where any prisoner is discharged from prison, the Visiting Justices may order a sum of money not exceeding two pounds to be paid out of any moneys appropriated for the purpose by the General Assembly or Provincial Council of the Province in which the prison is, or otherwise under their control, by the gaoler to the prisoner himself, or to the treasurer of a certified Prisoners’ Aid Society on his receiving from such society an undertaking in writing, signed by the secretary thereof, to apply the same for the benefit of the prisoner, or if that becomes impossible, to appropriate the whole or any unapplied part thereof for the benefit of such other prisoner or prisoners discharged from the said prison as the Visiting Justices may direct.

The Governor shall from time to time nominate two or more Justices, with their consent, to be visitors of each prison within the Colony; and one or more of the Visiting Justices so appointed shall from time to time visit and inspect each prison, and shall examine into the state of the buildings, so as to form a judgment as to what alterations may appear necessary, strict regard being bad to the requisitions of this Act and the regulations hereunder with respect to the separation of prisoners and enforcement of hard labour in prisons, and shall further examine into the conduct of the respective officers, and the treatment and conduct of the prisoners, the means of setting them to work, the amount of their earnings, and the expenses attending the prison, and shall inquire into all abuses within the prison, and shall take cognizance of matters of pressing necessity and within the powers of their commission as Justices and regulate the same, and shall once at least in each year make a report to the Colonial Secretary.

The Governor may make rules with respect to the duties of the Visiting Justices, and from time to time repeal or alter any rule so made, and make other rules in addition thereto or in substitution therefor; but no rules shall be valid which are inconsistent with any provision of this Act.

Any Justice of the Peace usually resident in the place at which a prison is may, whenever be thinks fit, enter into and examine the condition of such prison and of the prisoners therein, and he may enter any observations he may think fit to make in reference to the condition of the prison, or abuses therein, in the Visitor’s Book to be kept by the gaoler; and it shall be the duty of the gaoler to draw the attention of the Visiting Justices, at their next visit to the prison, to any entries made in the said book, but he shall not be entitled in pursuance of this section to visit any prisoner under sentence of death, or to communicate with any prisoner except in reference to the treatment in prison of such prisoner, or to some complaint that such prisoner may make as to such treatment.

An inquest shall be held on the body of every prisoner who may die within the prison. Where it is practicable, one clear day shall intervene between the day of the death and the day of the holding the inquest; and in no case shall any officer of the prison, or any prisoner confined in the prison, be a juror on such inquest.

Any writ warrant or other legal instrument addressed to the gaoler of a particular prison, describing the prison by its situation or other definite description, shall be valid, by whatever title such prison is usually known, or whatever be the description of the prison.

Every gaoler shall have the charge and superintendence of the prison for which he is appointed, and the custody of all debtors and criminals imprisoned within the same, and he shall be liable to answer for the escape of any criminal or debtor from his custody whenever such escape shall happen by or through his wilful neglect and default, but not otherwise.

If any debtor in execution shall escape out of legal custody, the gaoler or other person having custody of such debtor shall be liable to an action for damages sustained by the person or persons at whose suit such debtor was imprisoned, and shall not be liable to an action of debt in consequence of such escape.

Every debtor and criminal shall be deemed to be in the legal custody of the gaoler as soon as he shall be delivered within the door of any prison to the gaoler or some other person employed under him in the custody of prisoners in such prison, and the liability of the Sheriff or other person delivering such criminal or debtor shall cease on such delivery as aforesaid.

The gaoler of every prison shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Judges of the Supreme Court and of District Courts, and the Justices in Quarter or other Sessions of the Peace respectively, a calendar of all prisoners in custody for trial at each forthcoming Circuit Court or sittings of the Supreme Court for trial of criminal cases, and sittings of each District Court or Sessions of the Peace for the trial of criminal cases, in the same way as the gaoler of a gaol in England is now required by law to deliver a calendar of prisoners to Judges of Assize and Justices in Quarter Sessions, in his custody for trial.

A prisoner may be brought up for trial and may be removed by or under the direction of the gaoler from one prison to another, or from one place of confinement to another, to which such prisoner may be legally removed, for the purpose of being tried or undergoing his sentence; and no prisoner whilst in the custody of a gaoler shall be deemed to have escaped, although he may be taken into different jurisdictions or different places of confinement.

Whenever it shall appear to the Governor to be necessary that the prisoners or any of them confined in any prison within the Colony should be removed from such prison in order that the same may be repaired enlarged or rebuilt, or on account of any disease therein, or on account of the over-crowded state of such prison, or for any of the purposes of this Act, and due notice thereof in writing shall by order of the Governor be given to the gaoler of the prison, it shall be lawful for such gaoler to remove such prisoners or any of them to such other prison or place of confinement as the Governor shall appoint.

When any such prison as in this section aforesaid shall be made fit for the reception and safe keeping of such prisoners, it shall be lawful for the said gaoler to remove hack thereto all such prisoners as shall then be in his custody.

Whenever the removal of any prisoners shall become necessary for any of the reasons in this section aforesaid or from any other emergency, and it shall be impossible previous thereto to obtain such order as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Visiting Justices to issue an order to the keeper of such prison to remove such debtors or other prisoners to such other prison or place of confinement within the same Province as shall be specified in such order. Every such order of the Visiting Justices, together with a report of the causes thereof shall be forthwith notified to the Governor and also to the gaoler of the prison.

No such removal as in this section provided shall be deemed or taken to be an escape.

It shall be lawful for the gaoler of any prison to remove any prisoner whatever from any prison under his control and management to any other prison in the same Province, or in case of the illness of such prisoner to any hospital or infirmary, as occasion may require, and also for the purpose of imprisonment under sentence of penal servitude may remove any prisoner to any prison whatsoever within the limits of the Colony: Provided that no such removal, except as in this section first above mentioned, shall actually take place without the leave of a Judge of the Supreme Court or Judge of a District Court on application made to him for that purpose.

Whenever any gaoler, under any order of a Judge of the Supreme Court, has caused or shall have caused any prisoner whatever to be removed from any prison to any hospital or infirmary in case of illness, such prisoner shall be deemed to remain in the lawful custody of such gaoler, and such gaoler shall have power to remove such prisoner from such hospital or infirmary to the prison from which such prisoner was removed: Provided that no such removal from such hospital or infirmary shall actually take place without the leave of a Judge of the Supreme Court or Judge of a District Court on application made to him for that purpose.

The Governor may by warrant under his hand from time to time, when and as he may deem necessary, direct the removal from any prison of any prisoner confined therein to any other prison within New Zealand; and upon every such removal every such prisoner shall be subject to be kept at such prison for the residue of his sentence or until removed by legal authority.

The Governor in Council may, under his hand and the Public Seal of the Colony, from time to time delegate to the Superintendent of any Province the powers by the forty-seventh and fiftieth sections of this Act vested in the Governor, to be exercised within such Province and not elsewhere, and may from time to time in like manner rescind any such delegation.

When a prisoner shall be received into a prison by removal from another prison, it shall be awful, under the rules in force in the prison into which he is so received, to punish him for any misconduct which he may have committed in the course of such removal or within forty-eight hours before the commencement of the same, as if such misconduct had been committed by him within the prison into which he is so received.

In every prison to which this Act applies, and in which prisoners convicted of misdemeanour may be confined, prisoners convicted of misdemeanour and not sentenced to hard labour shall be divided into at least two divisions, one of which shall be called the first division; and whenever any person convicted of misdemeanour is sentenced to imprisonment without hard labour, it shall be lawful for the Court or Judge before whom such person has been tried, to order, if such Court or Judge think fit, that such person shall be treated as a misdemeanant of the first division, and a misdemeanant of the first division shall not be deemed to be a criminal prisoner within the meaning of this Act.

Offences under this Act, with the exception of felonies and of offences for the mode of trial of which express provision is made by this Act or Rules, shall be prosecuted summarily before two or more Justices of the Peace, and in manner directed by “The Justices of the Peace Act, 1866,” and any Act amending the same.

In any indictment against any offender for being found at large contrary to the provisions of the thirty-second and thirty-third sections of this Act, and also in any indictment against any person who shall rescue or attempt to rescue or assist in rescuing or attempting to rescue any prisoner from custody, or who shall aid or assist any prisoner to escape from such custody, it shall be sufficient to charge and allege the sentence or order made for the imprisonment of such prisoner, without charging or alleging any indictment trial or conviction of such offender.

The certificate in writing, under the hand of the Registrar or other officer having the custody of the records of the Court where any sentence or order of imprisonment shall have been made or recorded, containing the substance of such sentence or order, shall be sufficient evidence thereof, and shall be received in evidence of such sentence or order, upon proof of the signature and official character of the person signing the same.

Every act which the Superintendent is hereby authorized or required to perform, he shall perform solely in accordance with the advice of his Executive Council for the time being: Provided that if there be no law in force in such Province providing for the appointment of an Executive Council, the Superintendent may act alone.