S.I. No. 87/1976 - Prisons Act, 1972 (Military Custody) Regulations, 1976.

S.I. No. 87 of 1976.

PRISONS ACT, 1972 (MILITARY CUSTODY) REGULATIONS, 1976.

I, PATRICK S. DONEGAN, Minister for Defence, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 2 (9) of the Prisons Act, 1972 (No. 7 of 1972), hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Prisons Act, 1972 (Military Custody) Regulations, 1976.

2. In these Regulations "prison" means a place in which persons in military custody pursuant to section 2 of the Prisons Act, 1972 (No. 7 of 1972), are kept in custody, and "Governor", "prisoner" and "staff" shall be construed accordingly.

3. Notwithstanding anything in the Prisons Act, 1972 (Military Custody) Regulations, 1972 ( S.I. No. 138 of 1972 ), the Minister for Defence may, where he considers it necessary in the interests of the security of a prison or of the State and for reasons related to the particular person, direct that a person (including a prisoner's legal adviser)—

( a ) shall not be admitted to a specified prison, or

( b ) may be admitted to a specified prison only on such conditions or in such circumstances as the Minister may specify,

and any such direction shall be complied with by the Governor of the prison concerned.

4. The powers conferred by Regulation 3 of these Regulations shall not be so exercised as to prohibit or restrict visits from so many members of the legal profession as to deny to a prisoner a reasonable choice of legal adviser and legal advice given by such adviser in the sight but not in the hearing of a member of the prison staff.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 15th day of April, 1976.

PATRICK S. DONEGAN,

Minister for Defence.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations empower the Minister to direct the Governor of a prison in which civilian prisoners are kept in military custody to exclude, for reasons of security, a person including a prisoner's legal adviser, from the prison, or to admit a person only on such conditions or in such circumstances as the Minister may direct.

The Regulations, which the Minister for Defence is required to make under Section 2 (9) of the Prisons Act, 1972 , correspond to the Rules for the Government of Prisons, 1976 ( S.I. No. 30 of 1976 ).