Criminal Justice (Release of Prisoners) Act, 1998
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Interpretation. |
1.—(1) In this Act— | |
“the Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Talks” means the agreement set out in Annex 1 to the British-Irish Agreement done at Belfast on the 10th day of April, 1998; | ||
“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform; | ||
“power of release”, in relation to prisoners, means a power conferred on the Government or the Minister, as the case may be, by or under any enactment to provide for— | ||
(a) the release (including the temporary release) of prisoners from prisons or places of detention, or | ||
(b) the remission or commutation of any punishment imposed by a court exercising criminal jurisdiction; | ||
“qualifying prisoners” shall be construed in accordance with section 3 (2) of this Act; | ||
“relevant provisions” has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 (4) of this Act. | ||
(2) A reference in the Act to advice being given to the Minister with respect to the exercise of any power of release in relation to prisoners shall, where the particular power of release proposed to be exercised in relation to the matter concerned is conferred on the Government, be construed as a reference to advice being given to the Minister with a view to its being communicated to the other members of the Government for the purposes of the Government considering whether to exercise that particular power or not. |