Prisons Act, 1965

This provision gives the Act the short title “the Prisons Act.”

This section defines key terms used in the Act, including categories of prisoners, prison officers, prisons, prohibited articles, and related institutions.

The Minister may declare a building, enclosure, place, or part of one to be a prison, and may also declare that a prison stops being a prison.

The Commissioner may set up and later cancel a temporary prison, and may direct shelter and safe-custody arrangements for prisoners, with the Minister’s approval for that direction.

Every prison must have an officer in charge, appointed by the Commissioner.

A prison officer in charge may temporarily use police officers in a prison, with the Commissioner of Police’s consent, when prison officers are insufficient.

Prisons holding women prisoners must have women prison officers.

This provision establishes the Zambia Prison Service as a police force.

The Service includes persons appointed, or deemed appointed, to the ranks listed in the Schedule.

A Commissioner of Prisons must exist and be a public officer. The Commissioner controls and supervises the prison Service and all prisoners, subject to the Minister’s direction.

The Commissioner may make standing orders and administrative directions, as long as they comply with the Act, and prison officers must observe them.

The Deputy Commissioner of Prisons may perform the Commissioner’s functions, subject to the Commissioner’s directions. The Commissioner may also delegate functions to an Assistant Commissioner unless the Act or another written law indicates otherwise.

If a prison has no officer in charge, the Minister may designate a public officer to take charge until one is appointed. The Commissioner may also authorise district messengers to serve as prison officers, but that does not make them members of the Service.

Money owed to a prison officer or other prison employee may be set off against money that person owes to the Government when service ends or is ending.

The Minister may appoint a committee of inquiry to investigate prison-related matters and report back to him.

The Minister may appoint a prison medical officer, and if no appointment is made, a nominated Government medical officer becomes the prison medical officer. If the medical officer is absent or unavailable, the officer in charge may temporarily engage another medical practitioner, who then performs that role for the Act.

The medical officer must care for prisoners’ health, visit the prison daily where practicable or when asked by the officer in charge, and report relevant prison or prisoner-treatment concerns to the officer in charge.

The medical officer must, where practicable, have prisoners medically examined on admission and before discharge, keep health records, and do any other prescribed duties; new prisoners must be kept apart from others until examined, so far as practicable.

The medical officer must observe and examine prisoners under sentence of death or charged with a capital offence, and report on them to the officer in charge.

The medical officer must ensure certain prisoners are medically examined each day the officer visits the prison.

The officer in charge may order a prisoner to undergo medical examination and treatment whenever the officer thinks it is necessary.

When a prisoner dies, the medical officer must record specified details in a register, unless the death was by lawful execution.

When a prisoner dies, the officer in charge must immediately notify a magistrate or coroner and the prison medical officer, and arrange compliance with the Inquests Act provisions.

Every prison officer must perform the functions assigned by law to officers of that rank and obey lawful directions from senior officers about official duties.

A prison officer, while acting as a prison officer and subject to the Act, has the powers, authority, protection, and privileges of a police officer.

Prison officers must be available for duty at all times and must not take other employment besides the duties assigned under the Act.

Prison officers and the senior officer on duty may search people, vehicles, and items in and around a prison, refuse entry to someone who will not be searched, remove a person who refuses to leave, and arrest and hand over suspected offenders. Searches of women must be done by another woman officer and with due regard to decency.

A subordinate officer must not punish a prisoner unless ordered to do so by the Commissioner or an officer in charge.

Prison officers may use weapons only in the situations listed, and only subject to the section’s limits.

A prison officer may arrest a person who has escaped from lawful custody and take them to prison, or to a receiving centre if the person is a juvenile.

The officer in charge may order a prisoner's photographs, measurements, footprints, casts, palm prints, and fingerprints to be taken, and may use necessary force if the prisoner refuses. For an unconvicted prisoner who is not later convicted, those items must be destroyed on release by the court.

If a prison officer acted under a warrant, the court must give judgment for the officer when the warrant and obedience to it are proved; the court usually does not need proof of the judge’s or magistrate’s signature unless it doubts the signature’s genuineness.

Prison officers, and others in some cases, must not mutiny, incite mutiny or sedition, or try to turn prison officers away from duty; offenders may be fined, imprisoned, and can also receive corporal punishment.

Prison officers must not leave duty unless permitted, and absence for 21 days without reasonable cause is treated as desertion.

It is an offence for any person to help, persuade, or try to persuade a prison officer to desert, or to help a deserter hide or escape capture.

A prison officer must not assault, threaten, or insult a senior officer, especially when the senior officer is on duty or the conduct is connected to duty.

Prison officers must not, without lawful authority or permission, handle or allow certain items to be passed to, from, or by prisoners, or disclose prison-related information to the press or others.

Prison officers and others with duties involving prisoners must not profit from, trade in, or have interests in prison-related supplies or prisoner dealings, and must not make unauthorised communications on behalf of prisoners.

Prison officers are forbidden from joining trade unions or certain related bodies, except a prison officers staff association allowed by the Act.

Prison officers must not accept payments or do business with prisoners, certain visitors, or prisoners’ associates, and they must not communicate with prisoners except as authorised.

Different disciplinary rules apply to prison officers depending on whether they are at or above Superintendent rank, or below it.

The Commissioner may reduce in rank or dismiss certain prison officers after imprisonment, and affected officers may appeal.

Junior or subordinate prison officers commit a disciplinary offence if they do any of the listed misconduct, including disobeying orders, insubordination, neglect of duty, breach of confidence, drunkenness, or other prejudicial conduct.

A prison officer may arrest a junior or subordinate officer without a warrant if there are reasonable grounds to suspect a disciplinary offence.

The Commissioner, or an authorised senior officer, may investigate alleged discipline offences by a junior officer and impose listed punishments if satisfied the offence occurred.

The Commissioner, a senior officer, or an officer in charge may investigate a subordinate officer’s alleged disciplinary offence and impose specified punishments.

The Commissioner may confirm, increase, change, or cancel a referred punishment, but cannot increase it unless the offender had a chance to be heard.

The Prisons Advisory Board is established to consider appeals and advise the President. Appellants must submit certain appeals within 21 days after notification, and the Board can decide whether to hear the appellant or additional evidence.

A fine imposed on a prison officer for a discipline offence may be recovered by stopping the officer’s pay.

A prison officer holding a disciplinary inquiry may summon and examine witnesses, require relevant documents, adjourn the inquiry, and administer oaths. A witness who does not attend or refuses to answer lawful questions may be fined up to 150 penalty units or imprisoned for up to one month, but cannot be forced to answer incriminating questions.

If a disciplinary allegation seems too serious for the usual punishments, the Commissioner or relevant officer must stop the proceedings and may send the accused to a subordinate court.

A senior prison officer may order a prison officer to be searched, and the officer in charge may order the living quarters of another prison officer under his control to be searched.

The Commissioner may interdict a prison officer below Superintendent rank who is accused of an offence, and the officer may receive reduced pay while interdicted.

A prison officer below Superintendent rank does not earn pay for time absent without leave or imprisoned, unless a free pardon is later received or the conviction is quashed on appeal.

A person may be admitted to prison only with listed authority documents, and the officer in charge must verify the documents and not reject a prisoner just because of a facial error.

An infant child of a woman prisoner may be kept with the mother in prison and given clothing and necessities at public expense, subject to conditions set by the Commissioner.

When a person is admitted to prison, the officer in charge must record the prescribed particulars about that person.

Prison officers must search prisoners on admission and later as prescribed, using an officer of the same sex and not in the presence of the opposite sex.

Prison officials must inventory certain prisoner property, return it on release or discharge, and follow court notice and disposal steps for unclaimed property.

Male and female prisoners must be kept separate, and prisoners of each sex must be classified and kept apart by class where practicable.

Prisoners must remain in the lawful custody of the officer in charge, and the officer in charge must keep and detain people lawfully committed to that custody.

A court may authorise a probation officer to take a remand prisoner out of prison to make inquiries, and a prison officer may lawfully hand over custody for that purpose.

The Minister may order a juvenile who is serving a prison sentence to be moved from prison to a reformatory, but not if the unexpired prison term is under nine months.

A court may order the prison officer to produce a prisoner for civil evidence, and the officer must comply.

Prisoners on remand or committed for trial who need to attend court may be taken into police custody at the prison, and they must stay under police supervision until returned or discharged by the court.

Police officers may interview prisoners in prison only with the required approval and written order, and normally in sight and hearing of a prison officer; a prison officer in charge may also allow a private interview if the prisoner agrees.

An officer in charge may transfer a prisoner to police custody for justice or for investigating a crime, but only when a written order is produced.

The Commissioner may order a prisoner to be moved to another prison.

An officer in charge may confine a prisoner with mechanical restraint if it is considered necessary for safe custody and the confinement follows rules made under the Act.

A mentally disordered or defective convicted prisoner stays in the detention place until lawfully discharged; after that, the Minister may direct prison custody to finish any uncompleted sentence or order release if the sentence is finished.

This section lets a prison officer order a seriously ill prisoner removed to hospital, requires hospital medical authorities to report on the prisoner’s condition, and sets out custody and escape-prevention duties while the prisoner is treated.

A Commissioner may order a prisoner with leprosy to be moved to a leprosarium, where the prisoner must be kept and treated until cured or no longer liable to prison confinement.

A prisoner in a hospital, mental hospital, or leprosarium is treated as being in lawful custody, and prison or medical personnel are generally not answerable for an escape unless specific conditions are met.

Time a prisoner spends detained in a hospital, leprosarium, or certain institutions counts as part of the prison sentence.

Most criminal prisoners must work as directed by the officer in charge. Women prisoners generally cannot be employed outside a prison unless the medical officer recommends it on medical grounds. Civil and unconvicted prisoners may choose to work and, if they do, must be paid at prescribed rates.

Certain prisoners must keep their cells and related items clean; appellant prisoners may also be directed to do labour by the officer in charge with the Commissioner’s approval.

A person must not bring, remove, throw, take, give, or communicate prohibited items to or from a prison or with a prisoner, unless the Act allows it.

A prison officer may arrest a person without a warrant in specified section 77-related cases and must hand the person to a police officer.

People handling prison letters or documents must report and deliver unendorsed items, and no one may publish or transmit them without the Minister’s authority.

A person must not loiter within 91 metres of a prison or other place where prisoners may be for imprisonment or work, and must leave if asked by a prison or police officer.

A prison officer or police officer may remove a person caught committing a section 80 offence. If the offence is repeated after removal, a prison officer may arrest that person without warrant and must hand them to a police officer.

It is an offence for a non-prison officer to possess, buy, receive, or help dispose of prison property or articles supplied to prison officers without a satisfactory explanation or lawful authority.

A person other than a prisoner must not help a prisoner escape or try to escape, or do things to help an escape; breaching the rule can lead to up to 7 years’ imprisonment.

A person must not harbour or employ a prisoner known to be unlawfully at large.

It is an offence for any person to wear or use certain uniforms or decorations without due authority, or to falsely claim to be entitled to use or wear them.

The officer in charge must display a notice outside the prison listing the acts prohibited by sections 77, 80, and 82, and the penalties for committing them.

Civil prisoners and unconvicted prisoners may be allowed to support themselves and get food, clothing, or other necessities from private sources at proper hours, as the Commissioner determines.

A prisoner must not give, hire, or sell section 87 food, clothing, or other necessaries to another prisoner.

Civil prisoners and unconvicted prisoners who do not provide their own food and clothing are entitled to normal prison food, clothing, and other necessaries.

A prisoner commits a minor prison offence by doing any of the listed acts or omissions in section 90.

A prisoner commits a major prison offence if they do any of the listed acts or omissions, including mutiny, assault, escape-related conduct, gross misconduct, or aiding such offences.

The officer in charge may keep a prisoner charged with a prison offence apart from other prisoners, and may segregate a prisoner when needed for prison order and discipline.

This section lets prison-offence charges be heard either by a subordinate court or within prison by specified officials, and it requires the prisoner to be told the charge and heard in defence in prison hearings.

A subordinate court may sentence a prisoner convicted of a minor prison offence to up to six months’ imprisonment, and a major prison offence to up to two years, with other listed punishments also possible.

A junior or subordinate officer in charge may punish a prisoner who is found guilty of a minor prison offence.

If a prisoner is charged with a minor prison offence before a non-senior officer in charge and the officer thinks his punishment powers are inadequate, he must stop the proceedings and send the case with a report to a senior officer or visiting justice who is a magistrate.

A senior officer or visiting justice may punish a prisoner convicted of a minor prison offence with one or more listed sanctions.

A Commissioner, senior officer, or visiting justice may punish a prisoner found guilty of a major prison offence with specified confinement, diet, work, earnings, grade, privilege, or corporal punishments.

This section sets out how a corporal punishment sentence must be submitted for approval or confirmation, when it may be announced, and when another punishment may be substituted.

A prison offence may not be punished with corporal punishment under section 98 unless it is one of the offences listed in section 91(i) to (iii).

Certain prisoners cannot be sentenced to corporal punishment under section 98.

This section limits corporal punishment sentences and requires the cane’s type and use to be approved by the Minister.

A sentence of corporal punishment must not be carried out until it has been confirmed under the applicable written law.

Corporal punishment cannot be carried out unless a medical officer has certified the prisoner fit, and a medical practitioner and the officer in charge are present.

A medical practitioner or officer in charge may stop the rest of a corporal punishment sentence if the prisoner is not fit enough to continue.

Prisoners on separate-cell penal diet must get full diet every fourth day, and prisoners on reduced diet must get full diet every ninth day. Prisoners on separate-cell penal diet must not be put to manual labour until the sentence ends.

A prisoner cannot be sentenced to separate-cell confinement for more than 90 days in total in one year.

Lawfully imposed punishments, except corporal punishment, may be carried out partly in one prison and partly in another.

Some prisoners can earn remission of sentence for good conduct, but not if they are serving life or President’s pleasure sentences.

Some prisoners may earn remission of one-third of their sentence if they show satisfactory industry and good conduct; the commissioner may also restore remission that was lost or forfeited.

The officer in charge must ensure prisoners are discharged properly and immediately when they become entitled to release, subject to the section’s exceptions.

Criminal prisoners must be discharged by noon on the day they are entitled to be discharged, or by noon on the previous non-Sunday, non-holiday day if that day falls on a Sunday or public holiday.

A prisoner released from prison is entitled to travelling expenses to the place the Commissioner decides.

The Commissioner may let certain prisoners go on parole for up to 14 days, and can recall them; parole breaches are an offence punishable by up to 6 months’ imprisonment.

The Minister may allow a young prisoner to leave prison temporarily, if recommended by the Commissioner and subject to conditions set by the Minister.

The President may release a life prisoner on licence, set or change licence conditions, and recall the prisoner to prison.

The Commissioner must make a Compulsory After Care Order for certain prisoners, and may do so for other prisoners if rehabilitation makes it necessary or desirable.

A person subject to a compulsory after care order commits an offence if they are convicted of another offence or break the order’s terms, and they can be sentenced to imprisonment.

The Commissioner must send reports on prisoners who meet the section’s timing and sentence-based conditions, and the reports must include work, conduct, and health statements.

Prisoners sentenced to death must be kept in a safe place inside a prison, separated from other prisoners if possible, and watched constantly day and night.

Only specified prison officials and authorised persons may access a prisoner under sentence of death; the prisoner may also be visited by legal advisers, relatives, and friends if the Commissioner or officer in charge consents and may set reasonable conditions.

This section sets who may attend executions and what officials must do before and after an execution.

A Justice of Appeal or Judge may visit and inspect any prison, and may ask about complaints or requests made by a prisoner while doing so.

The Minister, Deputy Minister, and the Minister in charge of a Province must serve as visiting justices for the prisons specified in this section.

Magistrates must act as visiting justices for prisons in the area where they normally exercise jurisdiction.

A visiting justice may inspect a prison and exercise several oversight powers there.

A visiting justice must record visit-related remarks, suggestions, or recommendations in a book kept for that purpose after each visit.

The Minister may appoint official visitors to any prison.

Official visitors must regularly visit the prison, inspect prisoners and food, check that rules are being followed, hear prisoner complaints or requests, and do any other prescribed functions.

An official visitor must record remarks, suggestions, or recommendations in a book after each visit.

Certain approved religious representatives may be admitted to prison to visit prisoners and hold religious services, subject to prescribed times, places, and permission from the officer in charge.

A probation officer or prisoners' aid society representative may enter a prison if the Commissioner gives written permission.

The Minister may declare places to be youth corrective centres, or stop them being youth corrective centres, by Gazette notice.

A court may order certain 16- to under-21-year-olds convicted of non-capital offences to undergo six months’ corrective training in a youth corrective centre, if the stated conditions are met.

A court may let a qualifying male prisoner do public work outside prison instead of serving imprisonment, if the prisoner consents.

Officers in charge must give the High Court, at the start of each session, a list of unconvicted prisoners and a list of detained witnesses.

The Commissioner may offer rewards for information or assistance leading to the capture of escaped prisoners, and may also pay reasonable expenses plus a reward to the person who helps apprehend and hand over the prisoner.

The Commissioner may grant monetary rewards and gratuities to members of the Service, but anything over twenty kwacha needs the Minister’s sanction.

If the President pardons a person sentenced to death on condition that they serve a period of imprisonment, the law treats that person as having been sentenced by the court to that imprisonment period.

The Minister may apply this section to certain countries, and a sentenced person from such a country may be sent to Zambia, imprisoned, and detained there until the sentence ends or for the part needed.

The Minister may, by signed warrant, remove a sentenced prisoner to a country where the prisoner was born or formerly lived; a Zambian citizen cannot be removed without consent.

The Commissioner may give a prisoner written permission to be absent from prison for a specified period.

The Commissioner must keep a personal record for every prison officer and record who should receive money or other personal property if that officer dies without a valid will.

Witnesses who duly attend an inquiry or hearing under this Act are entitled to the same allowances and expenses as witnesses in criminal proceedings at a subordinate court, except prisoners, prison officers, and other public officers.

This section says a person can still be prosecuted under other law for an offence covered by this Act, and can face any other or higher penalty allowed by that other law, but not be punished twice for the same offence.

The Minister may make rules by statutory instrument for carrying out this Act, and those rules can include penalties for non-compliance.

This section is a repealed schedule that lists ranks of the prison service.