Attendance of Prisoners in Court
Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine
Syllabus topic 6, "Imprisonment"
Pages 688 to 693 of 806
In one line
Getting a prisoner from a jail to a courtroom needs its own statute, and India has had one since 1955.
In the wording a student can write in an exam: the Prisoners (Attendance in Courts) Act 1955 provides for the attendance of persons confined in prison at courts, for giving evidence or for answering a charge. The Prisoners Act 1900 provides for the removal of prisoners and their custody in transit. Section 55 of the Prisons Act 1894 provides that a prisoner being taken to or from a prison, or otherwise beyond its limits in lawful custody, is deemed to be in prison and subject to the same incidents as if he were actually in it.
Why a separate statute
Because two different things may be wanted from a prisoner, and they need different orders.
- He may be needed as a witness, to give evidence in a proceeding to which he is not a party.
- He may be needed as an accused, to answer a charge in another case.
In both, an order is required that a jail can act on, and the court making it is not the court that committed him. The Act of 1955 supplies the mechanism: a court may require the officer in charge of a prison to produce the prisoner, and it provides for the expenses, for the officer's duty, and for the circumstances in which the requirement need not be complied with.
The three statutes, and what each does
Keep them apart. Confusing them is the commonest error here.
| Statute | What it governs |
|---|---|
| Prisoners (Attendance in Courts) Act 1955 | Producing a prisoner in a court, as a witness or to answer a charge |
| Prisoners Act 1900 | The removal of prisoners, their custody in transit, and the transfer of prisoners for trial or for other purposes |
| Transfer of Prisoners Act 1950 | The transfer of prisoners between States, dealt with in [Transfer and Repatriation of Prisoners] |
| Prisons Act 1894, section 55 | The status of the prisoner while outside: he is deemed to be in prison |
All three of the separate statutes are among those the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act 2023 proposes to consolidate, and the fact that moving a prisoner is governed by four overlapping enactments is itself an argument for consolidation.
Section 55 of the Prisons Act 1894
Short, and it does more work than its length suggests.
A prisoner being taken to or from any prison in which he may lawfully be confined, or whenever he is working outside or is otherwise beyond the limits of such a prison, in or under the lawful custody or control of a prison officer, shall be deemed to be in prison and shall be subject to all the same incidents as if he were actually in prison.
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