Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com COLONIAL PRISONERS REMOVAL ACT, 1884 47 of 1884 [28th July, 1884] CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 :- 1 1. Short title CHAPTER 2 :- 2 2. Removal of prisoners from British possessions in certain cases 3. Return of removed prisoner 4. Regulations as to removal 5. Removlng authority 6. Evidence of act Government of British possession or Secretary of State 7. Warrant for removal of prisoner 8. Dealing with removed prisoner 9. Escape of prisoner from custody CHAPTER 3 :- 3 10. Application of Act to removal of criminal lunatics CHAPTER 4 :- 4 11. Cost of removal 1 2 . Power of Legislature of British Possession to pass laws for carrying Act into effect 13. Power as to making and revocation of Orders in Council 14. Application of Act to Channes Islands of Man 14A. Application or Act to British India 14B. Application of Act to British Burma 15. Application of Act to place under foreign jurisdiction Acts 16. Savings 17. Application of Act to existing and criminal lunatics 18. Definitions COLONIAL PRISONERS REMOVAL ACT, 1884 47 of 1884 [28th July, 1884] An Act to make further provision respecting the removal of Prisners and Criminil Lunatics from Her Majesty's possession out of the United Kingdom. Preamble.- [Repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act. 1898 (61 and 62 Vict., c. 22).] CHAPTER 1 1 1. Short title :- This Act may he cited as The Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 1884. CHAPTER 2 2 2. Removal of prisoners from British possessions in certain cases :- Where as regards a prisoner undergoing sentence of imprisonment in any British possession for any offence it appears to the removing authority hereinafter mentioned either (a) that it is likely that the life of the prisoner will be endangered or his health permanently injured by further imprisonment in such British possession: or (b) that the prisoner belonged, at the time of committing the said offence, to the Royal Navy or to Her Majesty's regular military forces, or (c) that the offence was committed wholly or poartly beyond the limits of the said British possession, or (d) that by reasons of there being no prison in the said British possession in which the prisoner can properly undergo his sentence or otherwise the removal of the prisoner is expedient for his safer custody or for more efficiently carrying his sentence into effect; or (e) that the prisoner belongs to a class of persons who under the law of the said British possession are subject to removal under this Act; in any such case the removing authority may, subject nevertheless to the regulations in force under this Act, order such prisoner to be removed to any British possession or to the United Kingdom to undergo his sentence or the residue thereof. 3. Return of removed prisoner :- ( 1 ) Where a prisoner has been removed in pursuance of this Act, a Secretary of State or the Government of a British possession to which the prisoner has been so removed, may order the prisoner, for the purpose of undergoig the residue of his sentence, to be returned to the British possession from which he was removed. (2) If a Secretary of State or the Goverment of a British possession to which a prisoner is removed under the Act, requires the prisoner to be returned for discharge to the British possession from which he was removed, the prisoner shall, in accordance with the regulations under this Act, be returned to the said British possession for the purpose of being there discharged at the expiration of his sentence. In any other case a prisoner, when discharged at the expiration of his sentence. shall be entitled to be sent free of cost to the British possession from which he was removed; Provided that where a prisoner at the date of his sentence belonged to the Royal Navy or t o Her Majesty's regular military forces, nothing in this . shall require such prisoner to be returned to the British possession from which he was removed, or entitle him to be sent there free of cost. 4. Regulations as to removal :- ( 1) It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council from time to time to make, and when made. revoke and vary regulations as to the removal, return, and discharge of prisoners under this Act. (2) The regulations may provide for varying the .conditions of a sentence of imprisonment passed in a British possession, where they differ from the conditions of a sentence of imprisonment in the part of Her Majesty's dominions to which the prisoner is removed, with a view to bringing them into conformity with the latter conditions, but the prisoner shall not by reason of such variation undergo an imprisonment of any longer duration, and where the latter conditions appear to a Secretary of State to be more severe than the former conditions, the Secretary of State may remit a portion of the imprisonment, so that the punishment undergone by the prisoner shall not in the opinion of the Secretary of State be more severe than the punishment to which the prisoner was originally sentenced, and the sentence of imprisonment shall, so long as the prisoner remains in the part of Her Majesty's dominions to which he is removed, be carried into effect as if the conditions thereof as so varied were the conditions of the original sentence. (3) The regulations may also provide for the forms to be used under this Act and generally for the execution of this Act. (4) All regulations made under this section shall be duly observed by all;persons, and shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as may be after they are made. 5. Removlng authority :- T he removing authority for the purposes of this Act shall be a Secretary of state acting with the concurrence of the Government of every British possession concerned. 6. Evidence of act Government of British possession or Secretary of State :- (1) The concurrence of the Government of a British possession and any requisition by the Government of a British possession may be given or made by the Government in Council or such other authority as may be from time to time provided by the law of that possession but shall be signified by writing under the hand of the Governor or of the Colonial Secretary or of any other officer appointed in this behalf by the law of that possession. (2) Any writing purporting to give such concurrence or make such requisition, and to be signed.by the Governor or Colonial Secreatary or other officer for the time being, shall be conclusive evidence that the concurrence of or requisition by the Government of the British possession has been duly given or made according to law; and any writing purporting to be under the hand of a Secretary of State and to order the removal of a prisoner from a British possession shall beconclusive evidence that such order has been duly given by the Secretary of State, and every such writing as above in this section mentioned shall be admissible in evidence in any Court in Her Majesty's dominions without further proof. 7. Warrant for removal of prisoner :- ( 1 ) Where the removal of a prisoner from a British possession is ordered in pursuance of this Act. a Secretary of State or the Governor of the British possession may by warrant under Ms hand direct the prisoner to be removed to the part of Her Majesty's dominions mentioned in the said order, and for that purpose to be delivered into the custody of the persons named or described in the warrant or some one or more of them, and to be held in custody and conveyed by sea or otherwise to the said part of Her Majesty;s dominions, thereto undergo, his sentence, or the residue thereof, until returned in pursuance of this Act or discharged, and such warrant shall be forthwith executed according to the tenor thereof. (2) Where a prisoner is to be relumed to a British possession, a Secretary of State or the Governor of the possession in which he has been undergoing his sentence, shall issue a like warrant, which shall be duly executed according to the tenor thereof. (3) Every warrant purporting to he issued in pursuance of this Act, and to be under the hand of a Secretary of State or Governor of a British possession, shall be received in evidence in every Court of justice in Her Majesty's dominions without further proof, and shall be evidence of the facts therein stated, and all acts done in pursuance of such warrant shall be deemed to have been authorised by law. 8. Dealing with removed prisoner :- ( 1 ) Every prisoner removed in pursuance of this Act shall, until he is returned in pursuance of this Act, he dealt with in the part of Her Majesty's dominions to which he is removed, in like manner as if his sentence (with such variation, if any, of the conditions thereof as may have been duly made in pursuance of regulations under this Act) had been duly awarded in that part, and shall be subject accordingly to all laws and regulations in force in that part, with the following qualifications, that his conviction, judgment and sentence may be questioned in the part of Her Majesty's dominions from which he has been removed in the same manner as if he had not been removed and that his sentence may be remitted and his discharge ordered in the same manner and by the same authority as if he had not been removed. (2) The officer in charge of any prison, on request by any person having the custody of a prisoner under a Warrant issued in pursuance of this Act. and on payment or tender of a reasonable amount for expenses, shall receive such prisoner and detain him for such reasonable time as may be requested by the said person for the purpose of the proper execution of the warrant. 9. Escape of prisoner from custody :- ( 1 ) If a prisoner while in custody in pursuance of this Act, or under a warrant issued in pursuance of this Act, escapes by breach of prison or otherwise, out of custody, he may be retaken in the same manner as a person convicted of a crime against the law of the place to which he escapes may be retaken upon an escape (2) A person guilty of the offence of so escaping or of attempting so to escape, or of aiding or attempting to aid any such prisoner so to escape, may be tried in any of the following parts of Her Majesty's dominions, namely, the part to which and the part from which the prisoner is being removed or returned, and the part in which the prisoner escapes and the part in which the offender is found and such offence shall be deemed to be an offence against the law of the part of Her Majesty's dominions in which he may be so tried, and for alt purposes of and incidental to the apprehension, trial, and punishment of the person accused of such offence, and of and incidental to any proceedings and matters proliminary, incidental to or consequential thereon, and of and incidental to the jurisdiction of any Court constable or officer With reference to such offence, and to the person accused thereof, such offence shall be deemed to have been committed in the said part. and such person may be punished in accordance with the Courts (Colonial) Jurisdiction Act, 1874. CHAPTER 3 3 10. Application of Act to removal of criminal lunatics :- (1) The provisions of this Act shall apply to a person in custody as a criminal lunatic in like manner. so far as consistent with the tenor thereof, as they apply to a prisoner undergoing sentence of imprisonment: and separate regulations maybe made by Her Majesty in Council under this Act in relation to criminal lunatics and (.subject to those regulations) all laws and regulations in force in the part of Her Majesty's dominions in which a criminal Junatic removed or returned is for the time being in custody under a warrant issued in pursuance of this Act, shall apply to such criminal lunatics as if he had become a criminal lunatic in that part. (2) Where a person, who is a criminal lunatic by reason of being unfit to be tried for an offence, is removed in pursuance of this Act, and a Secretary of State or the Governor of the British possession to or from which such person was removed considers that such person has become sufficiently sane to be tried for the said offence and requires him to be returned for trial to the British possession from which he was removed, he shall, in accordance with the regulations under this Act he returned as a prisoner to the said British possession for the purpose of being there tried for the said offence, and shall he removed thither in custody in like manner as if he had been arrested under a warrant on a charge for the said offence. CHAPTER 4 4 11. Cost of removal :- ( 1 ) The cost of the removal of any prisoner or criminal lunatic under this Act and of his maintenance while in confinement, and of his return, and of his being sent afterdischarge to any place, shall be paid in such manner an may be arranged between the Governments of the British possessions concerned and the Secretary of State. siubject an regards any cost to be paid out of money provided by Parliament, to the consent of the.1 [* * * * *] Treasury. (2) Nothing in this Act shall affect any power to recover the expenses of removing or returning any prisoner or criminal lunatic from the property of such prisoner or criminal lunatic or otherwise. 1. Inserted by the Government of India (Adaptation of Acts of Parliament) Order. 1937 CI and Sch.,art II. 12. Power of Legislature of British Possession to pass laws for carrying Act into effect :- If the Legislature of a British possession pass any law (a) for determining the authority by whom and the manner in which any jurisdiction, power, or concurrence under this Act is to be exercised or given: or (b) for payment of the costs incurred in the removal, maintenance, return, or sending back after discharge of a; prisoner or criminal lunatic: or (c) for dealing in such possession with prisoners or criminal lunatics removed thereto in pursuance of this Act, or (d) for making any class of prisoners subject to removal under this Act: or (e) otherwise in any manner for the carrying of this Act or any part (hereof into effect as regards the said possession, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council to direct that such law or any part thereof shall with or without modification or alteration be recognised and given effect to throughout Her Majesty's dominions and on the high seas as if it were part of this Act. 13. Power as to making and revocation of Orders in Council :- (1) It shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council from time to time to make Orders for the purposes of this Act. and to revoke and vary any Order so made, and every Order so made shall, while it is in force, have the same effect as if it were enacted in this Act. (2) An Order in Council made fore the purposes of this Act shall be laid before Parliament as soon as may be after it is made if Parliament is then in session, or, if not, as soon as may be after the commencement of the then next session of Parliament. 14. Application of Act to Channes Islands of Man :- This Act shall extent to the Channel Islands and Isle of Man as if they were part of England and the Unsited Kingdom. 14A. Application or Act to British India :- (1) This Act in its application to British India shall have effect subject to the modifications specified in this section. (2) In relation to persons removed or to be removed, or returned or to be returned, front-or to British India to or from any part of Her Majesty's Dominions outside British India, British India shall be deemed to be one British possession and. in relation to that possession, any reference to the Government, to the Governor or to the Governor in Council and any reference to the legislature shall be construed as a reference to the Governor-General or, as the case may be. to the India or Federal Legislature. (3) In relation to persons removed or to be removed or returned or to be returned, from or to one Province in British India to or from another Province in British India, each Province shall he deemed to he a separate British possession: any reference to the Government or to the Governor in Council and any reference to the Legislature shall, in relation to a Governor's Province, he construed as a relerence to the Governor or, as the ease may he, to the Provincial Legislature: and any reference to the Government, the Governor or the Governor in Council and any relerence to the Legislature shall, in relation to a Chief Commissioner's Province, be construed as a reference to the Governor-General or, as the case may be, to the Indian or..Federal legislature.] 14B. Application of Act to British Burma :- Repealed by Burma Independence Act, 1947 ( 1 1-12 Geo. 6. c. 3) S. 5 and Sch. 2, Pt. I.] 15. Application of Act to place under foreign jurisdiction Acts :- It shall he lawful for Her Majesty in Council from time to time to direct that this Act shall apply, as if. subject to the conditions. exceptions . and qualifications (if any) contained in the Order, any place out of Her Majesty's dominions, in which Her Majesty has jurisdiction, and which is named in the Order, were a British possession and part of Her Majesty '.s dominions, and to provide for carrying into effect such application. 16. Savings :- 1 (1) Nothing in this Act shall affect the provisions of the Army Act,1881. (2) This Act shall not affect any agreement made either before or after the passing of this Act under the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 1869, nor any provisions contained in the Act of the session of the fourteenth and filteenth years of the reign of her present Majesty, chapter eighty-one intituled An Act to authorise the removal from India of insane persons charged with offences, and to give better effect to inquisitions of lunacy taken in India. 1. Inserted by the Government of India (Adaptation of Acts of Parliament) Order. 1937 CI and Sch.,art II. 17. Application of Act to existing and criminal lunatics :- This Act shall apply to a prisoner who has been convicted, and to a criminal lunatic who has become a criminal lunatic.before the passing of this Act.in like manner as if he had been convicted and became a criminal lunatic after the commencement of this Act. 18. Definitions :- In this Act unless the context otherwise requires 1[and subject, as respects India, to the provisions of section 14A of this Act] the following expressions have the following meanings: that is to say, The expression "British possession" does not include any place within the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands b u t inlcudes all other territories and places being part of Her Majesty's dominions, and all territories and places within Her Majesty's dominions which are not part of India and arc under one legislature shall be deemed to he one British possession 2[* * *]. 3[* * * * * * ] The expression "legislature" where there are local legislatures, as well as a central legislature, means the central legislature only. 4[* * *]. 5[* * * * * *] The expression "Governor" means any person or persons administering the Government of a British possession 6 [* * * * * * ] The expression "Colonial Secretary" includes a person performing the like duties as a Colonial Secretary, whether known as Government Secretary, Chief Secretary to the Government, or by any other title. The expression "prison" includes any place for the confinment or detention of prisoners whether convicted or unconvicted. The expression "sentence of imprisonment" means any sentence involving confinement in a prison, whether combined or not with labour and whether known as penal servitude, imprisonment with hard labour, rigorous imprisonment, imprisonment, or otherwise, and includes a sentence awarded by way of commutation as well as an original sentence passed by the Court. The expression "criminal lunatic" means a person detained in custody by reason of his having been charged with an offence, and either found to have been insane at the time of such offence, or found or certified or otherwise lawfully proved to be unfit on the ground of his insanity to be tried for the same, and includes a person convicted of an offence and afterwards certified or otherwise lawfully proved to be insane. 1. Inserted by the Government of India (Adaptation of Acts of Parliament) Order. 1937 CI and Sch.,art II. 2. Certain words were omited ,by the Government of India (Adaptation of Acts of Parliament) Order. 1937 CI and Sch.,art II.. 3. Definnition of 'India' was omited, by the Government of India (Adaptation of Acts of Parliament) Order. 1937 CI and Sch.,art II.. 4. Certain words were omited ,by the Government of India (Adaptation of Acts of Parliament) Order. 1937 CI and Sch.,art II.. 5. Definition of "Secretary of State "was repealed by the State " Law Revision Act,1898(61 and 62 Vict.,c22) 6. Certain words were omitted by the Government of India (Adaptation of Acts of Parliament) Order, 1937. CI. 2 and Sch.. Part II.