628438-1899-Ordinance-No-7-of-1899-assented-to — Page 3

THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 11TH MARCH, 1899.

(2.) In every prison punishment cells shall be pro- vided or appropriated for the confinement of pri- soners for prison offences.

(3.) In a prison, containing female prisoners as well as males, the women shall be imprisoned in separate buildings or separate parts of the same buildings, in such manner as to prevent their seeing, convers- ing, or holding any intercourse with the men. (4.) In a prison where debtors are confined, means shall be provided for separating them altogether from the criminal prisoners.

(5.) In a prison where criminal prisoners are confined, such prisoners shall, as far as possible, be prevented from holding any communication with each other, either by every prisoner being kept in a separate cell by day and by night, except when he is at chapel or taking exercise, or by every prisoner being confined by night to his cell, and being subjected to such superintendence during the day as will, consistently with the provisions of this Ordinance, prevent his communicating with any other prisoner. (6.) In a prison where prisoners under the age of six- teen years are confined, they shall be kept separate from prisoners of or above that age.

ernor.

8. No cell shall be used for the separate confinement of Cells to be a prisoner unless it has been approved in writing by the approved Governor for the purpose, and the Governor shall not give by the Gov- his approval in respect of any cell unless he is satisfied (Ibid, s. 7.) that it is of such a size, and is lighted, ventilated, and fitted up in such a manner as may be requisite for health, and furnished with the means of enabling the pri- soner to communicate at any time with an officer of the prison; but a distinction may be made in respect of use of cells for the separate confinement of prisoners during long and short periods of imprisonment, and in respect of the use of cells in which the prisoner is intend- ed to be employed during the whole day, or for a long or short part thereof; and the Governor's approval may be varied accordingly, so as to express the period of impri- soument for which each cell may be considered fit, and the number of hours in the day during which the prisoners may be employed therein.

No punishment cell shall be used unless it has been approved in writing by the Governor, and the Governor shall not give his approval in respect of any such cell un- less he is satisfied that it is furnished with the means of enabling the prisoner to communicate at any time with an officer of the prison, and that it can be used as a punish- ment cell without detriment to the prisoner's health, and the time for which it may be so used shall be stated in the approval.

Every approved cell shall be distinguished by a number or mark placed in a conspicuous position, and shall be referred to by its number or mark in the Governor's ap- proval, and the number or mark of any approved cell shall not be changed without the Governor's approval.

Any approval given by the Governor in respect of a cell may be withdrawn on such alteration taking place in such cell as to render the approval, in his opinion, inap- plicable thereto, and upon an approval in respect of a cell being withdrawn, that cell shall cease to be an approved cell for the purposes of this Ordinance.

9. Hard labour for the purposes of sentences of impri- Hard labour. sonment with hard labour shall be of such classes, character (Ibid, s. 8 and description as may be appointed by rules made by altered.) the Governor-in-Council under this Ordinance or under any Ordinances amending the same. Prisoners undergoing hard labour may, in the discretion of the Superintendent of the Victoria Gaol, be employed under the control of officers belonging to the prison, on such public works outside the walls of the prison as the Governor may from time to time approve.

10. In every prison, prisoners convicted of misdemeanour, and not sentenced to hard labour, shall be divided into at least two divisions, one of which shall be called the first divi- sion; and whenever any person convicted of misdemeanour is sentenced to imprisonment without hard labour, the Court or Judge before whom such person has been tried may order, if such Court or Judge thinks fit, that such person shall be treated as a misdemeanant of the first division, and a misdemeanant of the first division shall not be deem

Misdemean- ants of the 1st and 2nd

divisious.

(bid, s. 9.)

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