Statute Law Compilation and Revision (Correction of Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023) Notice, 2024

This notice is housekeeping with real consequences. The Law Reviser, using section 11C of the Statute Law Compilation and Revision Act [Chapter 1:03], corrects textual errors that appeared in the Prisons and Correctional Service Act, 2023 as gazetted. The Schedule lists each provision in the first column and the correction in the second.

The most consequential fix is in section 1: the Act's chapter number changes from Chapter 7:21 to Chapter 7:23. Anyone citing the Act should use [Chapter 7:23].

Many of the corrections repair broken internal cross-references in the interpretation section — 'disciplinary board' becomes 'disciplinary trial' and points to section 52 instead of section 44; 'disciplinary offence' points to Part VI instead of Part IV; 'official visitor' to section 162 instead of section 89; 'State Parole Board' to section 137 instead of section 139; 'visiting justice' to section 160 instead of section 162; and the definition of 'prison' is re-anchored to sections 24 and 25. Other cross-reference fixes run through sections 47, 50, 54, 67 and the Second Schedule heading.

Two corrections change substance rather than just references. In section 3(2)(d) on the establishment of the Service, 'two' becomes 'two thousand'. In section 49(2)(b) on suspension and dismissal of correctional officers, 'less' becomes 'more'. In section 52(2) a trial board may be constituted of 'one, three or five' members rather than 'one or three'. And in the definition of 'young inmate', 'under' becomes 'above'. The rest are spelling and grammar repairs — 'very' to 'every', 'suit' to 'lawsuit', 'for through' to 'or through', 'an other reasons' to 'any other reasons'.

One inconsistency in the notice itself: section 2 describes the Act being corrected as Act No. 9 of 2023, while the explanatory note calls it No. 3 of 2023. The explanatory note does not form part of the notice.