Power to declare prisons
The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare any house, building, enclosure or place, or any part thereof, to be a prison for the purposes of this Act for the imprisonment or detention of persons lawfully in custody and may in like manner declare that any such prison shall cease to be a prison for the purposes of this Act.
Existing buildings declared prisons
Subject to any declaration made under this Act, the buildings which at the commencement of this Act are in use as prisons shall be deemed to be prisons within the meaning of this Act.
Description of prison in writs, etc.
In any writ, warrant, or other legal instrument in which it may be necessary to describe a particular prison, any description designating a prison by reference to the name of the place or town where it is situated, or other definite description, shall be valid and sufficient for all purposes.
Appropriation of prisons to categories of prisoners
(1) The Commissioner General may, from time to time, by order— (a) appropriate certain prisons— (i) for effecting the separation of different categories of prisoners; (ii) for the training of different categories of prisoners; or (iii) for any other reason. (b) limit the categories of prisoners in certain prisons. (2) A prisoner of the category for which a prison is to be designated may be lawfully conveyed to and imprisoned in that prison despite the warrant or order for the imprisonment of that prisoner shall have been issued by a court not having its ordinary jurisdiction in the place where the prison is situated.
Appointment of lock-ups at police stations and court houses as places of detention
(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, to appoint lock-ups at such police stations and court houses as may be specified in the notification to be places for the confinement of persons, remanded or sentenced to such terms of imprisonment, not exceeding one month, as may be specified in each case. (2) A lock-up appointed as a place of confinement under subsection (1)— (a) shall not be deemed to be a prison for the purposes of this Act, or of the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act 1969 [Act 7] and regulations made under this Act shall not apply thereto; (b) shall be deemed to be a prison for the purposes of Chapter XXVII of the Criminal Procedure Code [Act 593] or of the Debtors Act 1957 [Act 256].
Temporary prisons
(1) Whenever it appears to the Commissioner General— (a) that the number of prisoners in a prison is greater than can be reasonably kept in the prison and that it is not convenient to transfer the excess number to another prison; or (b) that by reason of an outbreak within a prison of a disease or for any other reason which renders it necessary to provide for the temporary shelter and safe custody of any prisoner, he may, with the approval of the Minister, direct in writing for the shelter and safe custody in temporary prisons of so many of the prisoners as cannot be conveniently or safely kept in the prison. (2) A temporary prison under subsection (1) shall be a prison for the purposes of this Act. (3) Any prisoner removed to a temporary prison under subsection (1) shall, when the reason for the removal has ceased, be returned to the prison from where he was removed if his term of imprisonment has not expired. (4) The direction or order made or given by the Commissioner General under subsection (1) shall be for a period not exceeding three months. (5) Despite subsection (4), the duration of any direction or order made under subsection (1) may, with the approval of the Minister, be extended for further periods not exceeding three months at any one time and such extensions shall not in any event exceed a total period of nine months.
Administration of prisons
(1) Subject to the provisions of the Federal Constitution relating to the jurisdiction, power and functions of the Commission and the orders of the Minister made under this Act, the general charge and administration of prisons and the control and direction of prison officers throughout Malaysia shall be vested in the Commissioner General. (2) The Commissioner General may from time to time make such transfers and direct the employment and distribution of prison officers as he may think fit.
Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Text as at 1 October 2009 (LOM reprint); amendments made after that date may not be incorporated. Read the official text ↗
Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).