Prisons Bill, 1972

Public bill · Government · Introduced

The Prisons Bill 1972 would allow the Minister for Justice, during a temporary period ending on 31 May 1974, to transfer prisoners to military custody where prisons or staff were insufficient to provide secure and reasonable conditions. People on remand or awaiting trial would remain under military custody only until the relevant court proceedings, while sentenced prisoners would remain there for their authorised period of detention. The Minister could return people to prison at any time, and all transfers and related regulations would have to be reported to the Houses of the Oireachtas; bail would remain available. It would also let the Minister designate additional places as prisons, with safeguards requiring military-custody arrangements to broadly follow prison rules and allowing parliamentary oversight.

Last updated 16 June 2020