Prison - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition prison

Definition :

Prison, a place of confinement for the safe custody of persons; a gaol, 3 Steph. Com.

The erection, maintenance and regulation of prisons are provided for by several Acts of Parliament, for which see Chitty's Statutes, tit. 'Prison.' And for Scotland see the Prisons (Scotland) Acts, 1860 to 1909.

The (English) Prison Act, 1877, transferred the management of prisons from counties and boroughs to the government, and put an end to the obligation theretofore existing on the part of the counties and boroughs to maintain prisons of their own, and the (English) Prison Act, 1898, c. 41 (for which and for extracts from the Prison Rules, 1899, under it, see Chitty's Statutes, tit. 'Prison'), has constituted the Prison Commissioners Directors of Convict Prisons, established three divisions of prisoners, not sentenced to penal servitude or hard labour, and restricted the authorization of corporal punishment. Both these Acts have been amended in certain respects by the (English) Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, which see.