Prisons Act

Provides a set of definitions of terms used in the Act.

The Prisons Authority has powers and may take specified actions (for example acquire property, establish training, arrange officer exchanges, engage advisors, enter into research arrangements, contract out operations, provide assistance, and encourage staff improvement) to discharge its functions.

The Prisons Authority may make rules about prison management, prisoners' custody and welfare, and staff conduct; it may prescribe a code of conduct and must ensure rules are brought to the notice of officers and employees.

Establishes the Prisons Council, lists its members, requires the Commissioner General to appoint certain members in consultation with officers in charge of prisons, sets members’ terms at three years, and sets quorum at ten members.

Lists the functions of the Prisons Council, including making appointments and promotions up to principal officer, disciplinary control for officers at or below principal officer, advising the Prisons Authority, formulating terms, standards, equipment needs, policy, ensuring efficient administration and national character; and permits appointing committees from among its members.

Rules for meetings of the Prisons Council: it must meet at least once every three months; the Chairperson sets times, places and procedure; the Vice Chairperson presides if the Chairperson is absent; quorum is ten; majority decisions bind the Council with a casting vote for the presiding member in a tie; the Council must keep records of proceedings.

Establishes a regional prisons committee in each region, lists its membership, sets its functions to advise the Prisons Council and perform duties assigned by the Prisons Council, and requires the committee to regulate its own procedure.

Establishes district prisons committees, lists their functions and membership, and requires the regional prisons commander to appoint certain representatives.

The Uganda Prisons Service must consist of specified senior officers and other appointed members, including the Commissioner General, Deputy Commissioner General, regional and district commanders, officers in charge, directors, heads of departments at headquarters, and any other person appointed as a member under this Act.

The Service must contribute to protecting society by providing safe, secure and humane custody and rehabilitation of offenders and must professionalise staff, ensure adequate remuneration, and ensure proper living conditions.

The Service must perform functions including ensuring humane custody and court production of legally detained prisoners, facilitating rehabilitation, re-integration, prisoner work necessary for prison management, and other functions the Minister (after consultation with the Prisons Authority) may assign.

The Service must engage in activities to secure adequate funding, generate income from its assets, empower staff and promote good governance, peace, security and stability within the prevailing laws and regulations.

The Commissioner General must supervise, administer and control the Service, is accountable to the Minister, and has multiple powers including delegating functions, issuing rules (with the Prisons Authority), transferring officers, appointing temporary warders in emergencies, and creating sections (with the Public Service Commission).

The Service must be provided with adequate resources and facilities to cater for staff and prisoners.

Establishes the Prisons Authority, lists its membership, sets meeting frequency and quorum, permits it to regulate procedure, and requires record-keeping of meetings.

Lists the functions of the Prisons Authority, subject to the Constitution and the Act, including advising government and the President, making certain appointments and promotions, developing rehabilitation and counselling programmes, providing strategic direction, determining terms of service, hearing appeals, performing related functions, and the Authority may appoint and assign committees.

The President appoints the Commissioner General and Deputy Commissioner General.

The President may remove the Commissioner General and Deputy Commissioner General on the recommendation of the Prisons Authority for specified reasons; those officers may also request to vacate their office with the President's approval subject to retirement-benefit conditions.

The Prisons Authority must appoint officers at or above the rank of cadet assistant superintendent of prisons, and the Prisons Council must appoint officers below the rank of assistant superintendent of prisons.

Prison officers must retire at age 60; appointing authorities may require retirement after service milestones or for stated reasons and must require retirement on medical grounds when declared unfit; affected officers have a right to be heard.

A prison officer must not terminate their service except with written permission of the appointing authority, subject to section 20.

When a prison officer's service terminates they must stop exercising powers vested by office and hand back issued arms, accoutrements, ammunition, uniform insignia and other equipment before receiving a certificate of termination; failure is an offence punishable by a fine up to thirty currency points or up to one year imprisonment, or both.

A prison officer who has reached retirement age may apply to the appointing authority to serve on contract for up to two years at a time, with a maximum total of four years; the application is to the Secretary to the Prisons Authority for officers of or above assistant superintendent rank, and to the Prisons Council for officers of or below that rank.

The Public Service Commission may employ civilians for administrative functions and regulate their employment; the Commissioner General may make rules governing civilians' terms and conditions of service in consultation with the Prisons Authority by statutory instrument.

The Prisons Authority may appoint a Director of Health Services and qualified medical officers (in consultation with the Health Service Commission); the Director and medical officers are responsible for health services and health care respectively.

The Minister may, by statutory instrument, declare buildings or places to be prisons and may declare that a prison shall cease to be a prison.

The Commissioner General may provide temporary shelter or safe custody for prisoners when prisons are overcrowded, transfer is inconvenient, an epidemic breaks out, or for other similar reasons.

Male and female prisoners shall be kept apart and confined in separate prisons or separate parts of the same prison.

Sets out the roles and responsibilities of the officer in charge of a prison, requires the Commissioner General to appoint an officer in charge for every prison, and provides who may act when no appointment has been made.

There shall be regional and district administrative divisions.

The Commissioner General must appoint a senior prison officer known as the regional prisons commander for each region; the regional prisons commander has the administration and supervision of prisons in that region.

The regional prisons commander must implement departmental policies and coordinate institutional activities in the region, subject to the Commissioner General, and must ensure staff deployment, contingency plans, district supervision against human rights abuses, and follow up of reports.

The Commissioner General must appoint a senior prison officer as district prisons commander; that commander must exercise the powers and duties that the Commissioner General directs.

The Commissioner General must determine security measures for prisons and may set different measures for different prisons.

Any person must not, without lawful authority, bring or introduce into a prison a prohibited article or take a prohibited article out of prison; a "prohibited article" is any article on a list decided by the Commissioner General.

A prison officer may seize articles unlawfully in a prison, and the Commissioner General may order their confiscation and forfeiture; this applies whether or not criminal or disciplinary proceedings are started.

Entering or remaining within prison boundaries without lawful authority is an offence; refusal to leave when asked may lead to arrest by a prison or police officer; conviction can result in a fine up to fifteen currency points or imprisonment up to six months, or both.

A person is prohibited from possessing prison-supplied articles or prison property without satisfactory account, from buying/receiving such items from a prison officer without authority, and from aiding a prison officer to sell or dispose of such items.

It is prohibited for any person to instigate mutiny or to try to seduce a prison officer from duty.

It is an offence for a person to knowingly harbour a prisoner or employ someone serving a sentence who is illegally at large; conviction may lead to up to one year imprisonment.

A person who contravenes this Act or rules made under it commits an offence and, where no specific penalty is provided, faces a fine not exceeding thirty currency points, imprisonment up to six months, or both.

No person shall be tried twice for the same offence.

A lawfully imposed punishment may be carried out partly in one prison and partly in another.

A prisoner shall not be ordered to forfeit as a punishment more remission than he or she has earned.

The Minister may prescribe which acts or omissions are prison offences.

A medical officer may advise the officer in charge to terminate the punishment if the officer considers it necessary on grounds of physical or mental health.

A magistrate may, on convicting a prisoner of an offence against discipline, impose the punishments listed in sections 102–106 and may also impose up to six months' imprisonment to run consecutively with the current sentence.

A prisoner is entitled not to be punished for a prison offence until they have had an opportunity to hear the charge and make a defence, and where necessary and practicable the prisoner is entitled to interpreter services.

A prison officer must not use a prisoner to punish another prisoner.

The officer in charge must enter in a register, open to visiting justices, a record of all punishments imposed on prisoners listing each prisoner's name, the nature of the offence and the extent of punishment.

A punishment lawfully imposed on a prisoner may be carried into effect even if it requires detention beyond the prisoner's discharge date, but that detention shall not exceed forty-eight hours.

Any person who, without lawful authority, supplies, conveys, brings in or out, places, hides, or communicates specified items or communications to or from a prisoner (including within or outside a prison) commits an offence.

Prison officers must perform powers and duties assigned by the Act according to their rank, obey lawful orders from senior officers in executing those duties, be under their immediate supervisor's direction and act in accordance with the Act, regulations, standing orders and administrative instructions of the Commissioner General.

Prison officers have the same powers, protection and privileges as police officers within a prison or while in charge of prisoners; they may arrest suspected deserters without warrant and must immediately hand such persons to police for prosecution.

A prison officer may be assigned by the Commissioner General to any part of Uganda to perform duties or functions under this Act.

Grants prison officers broad powers to examine and search persons, vehicles and items in and near prisons when they have reasonable grounds to suspect prohibited or Service property or imminent offences; allows refusal of entry or removal for those refusing searches; permits arrest, seizure, impounding and handover to police; requires gender-matched searches.

Prison officers must use non-violent means when possible, act proportionately, minimise harm, provide medical assistance and report injuries; officers in charge and the Commissioner General may authorise use of force, confinement or arming; authorised use that wounds or kills is not an offence.

Senior officers must take measures to prevent, suppress or report unlawful use of force or firearms when they know or should have known a subordinate resorted to such use; obedience to manifestly unlawful orders is not a defence for prison officers; affected prisoners (or their representatives/dependants) are entitled to access an independent judicial process.

Prison officers may use weapons or force in specified circumstances (escaping prisoners, maintaining discipline, violent or riotous prisoners) but must not use firearms without warning and must not use weapons in the presence of a senior officer except under that senior officer's orders.

The Government, the Commissioner General or a prison officer is not liable for anything done bona fide under this Act; acts by a prison officer under a warrant, directive or authorisation are not invalidated for irregularities if the officer acted in good faith and reasonably believed the instrument was validly issued.

An officer in charge may, for assisting investigations, cause photographs, footprints, measurements, palm prints and fingerprints of any prisoner to be taken.

Prison officers who conspire in or are aware of another's conspiracy to cause mutiny and fail without delay to report it to the Commissioner General or an immediate senior officer commit an offence and face a fine not exceeding sixty currency points or up to two years' imprisonment, or both.

Prison officers must not absent themselves from post, duties or official residence without reasonable cause or permission from the Commissioner General; doing so is an offence punishable by a fine up to thirty currency points or imprisonment up to one year, or both.

Prison officers who absent themselves without authority with intent not to return (desert) commit an offence; presumption of desertion after 21 continuous days absent; desertion and assisting others to desert are punishable by up to one year imprisonment; declared deserters are to be arrested without warrant and handed to police.

It is an offence for any person to induce or assist a prison officer to desert the Service; on conviction the offender may be fined up to thirty currency points or imprisoned up to one year, or both; persons who leave on completion of engagement are not guilty provided the Commissioner General does not retain them in an emergency.

Prison officers must not assault, threaten or insult any officer senior to them in the Service when that senior officer is on duty or when the conduct relates to the senior officer’s discharge of duty; such conduct is an offence attracting a fine not exceeding thirty currency points or imprisonment for up to six months, or both.

Prison officers and other prison employees are prohibited from, without prior authorisation and outside their functions, engaging in sales or business with prisoners, accepting gifts or discounts related to prisoners or suppliers, facilitating prohibited items, conveying letters out of prison, or disclosing confidential prison matters.

Prison officers shall not—

Disciplinary control over senior prison officers vests in the Prisons Authority; for lower-ranked officers it vests in the Prisons Council; those bodies must empower regional commanders and officers in charge to handle disciplinary cases on their behalf.

A regional prisons commander or officer in charge must make recommendations for dismissal after disciplinary proceedings if they consider dismissal appropriate; such commanders may impose any penalty except dismissal, and recommendations go to the Prisons Authority for senior officers or to the Prisons Council for subordinate officers.

A prison officer of higher rank may arrest a prison officer or person employed in the Service who commits or attempts an aggravated offence prescribed in Schedule 2, with or without a warrant.

A prison officer arrested for an offence under this Part must be informed of the nature of the offence and confined in a guardroom or a cell provided for that purpose.

If criminal proceedings that could lead to disciplinary action are started against a person, disciplinary proceedings must not be taken until those criminal proceedings and any appeals are concluded.

Prisoners must be treated with dignity, must not be discriminated against, and are entitled to worship, education and cultural activities, remunerated work and access to health services.

Rules governing admission into prison custody: the officer in charge must verify warrants and not admit persons without valid warrants; prisoners must receive written information; severely tortured persons must not be admitted; juveniles must not be admitted to adult prisons; detainees may be held temporarily in police cells up to one month unless authorised further by the Commissioner General.

Female prisoners may be admitted with infants subject to prescribed conditions; the State supplies infant clothing and necessities until eighteen months; the officer in charge must hand the infant to a willing relative or friend when satisfied; if none, the Commissioner General may entrust care to a welfare or probation authority.

Female prisoners must at all times during detention or imprisonment be under the care, custody and supervision of a female prison officer.

When a person is admitted into custody, the officer in charge must record (or cause to be recorded) that person's particulars in the relevant registers.

Prisoners must be searched on admission (and later when the officer in charge decides); prohibited items removed; searches conducted by a prison officer of the same sex and not in presence of opposite sex; officer in charge must take custody of unretained money/clothes/effects and keep an inventory.

People committed to prison must be in the lawful custody of the officer in charge during the whole period of imprisonment.

Unconvicted (untried) prisoners are presumed innocent and must be kept separate from convicted prisoners; the officer in charge must detain remand prisoners according to the warrant and discharge them as the warrant specifies; untried prisoners are entitled to apply for free legal aid where available and to receive visits from a legal adviser.

If a prisoner elects to postpone serving a sentence requiring High Court confirmation, that prisoner must be treated as unconvicted until confirmation or other order; if the High Court later confirms the sentence, time spent as an unconvicted prisoner is counted toward the term of imprisonment.

If a person arrested for a criminal offence has been remanded in custody for 120 days (for offences triable by High Court and subordinate court) or 360 days (for offences triable only by the High Court before commitment), the person shall be released on bail on conditions the court considers reasonable.

A court or competent authority may order the officer in charge to produce a prisoner in custody for attendance as a witness, and the officer must bring the person and provide for safe custody while absent from prison.

Every prisoner must be subject to prison discipline and to all laws, orders and directions relating to prisons and prisoners during the time of imprisonment, whether inside or outside the prison premises.

Prison administration must provide prisoners with nutritious, wholesome food at usual hours; drinking water must be available to every prisoner whenever needed.

Prisoners who are not employed in outdoor work must have at least one hour of suitable exercise in the open air every day.

Prisoners are allowed daily to make requests or complaints to prison officers, may complain privately to inspectors during inspections, and may send uncensored complaints in proper form to senior authorities through approved channels.

A prisoner may petition the President but must address the President through the Commissioner General.

The provision allows removal and transfer of prisoners between prisons, authorises the Commissioner General to direct transfers by order, requires transferred prisoners to be treated as in custody of prison officers while outside the prison, and deems escape from such custody to be escape from lawful custody.

Medical officers/officers in charge must produce a judgment under the Mental Health Act if they consider a prisoner mentally ill; medical superintendents must notify the prison officer when a prisoner removed to hospital is entitled to discharge.

The officer in charge may order removal of a sick prisoner to hospital when there is no suitable accommodation in the prison (on advice of the medical officer), and in emergencies may do so without that advice; hospital medical staff must take precautions to prevent escape and must notify the officer in charge when the prisoner no longer requires detention so the officer shall bring the prisoner back if still liable to confinement.

If the officer in charge considers special security necessary while a prisoner is in hospital, the officer must place the prisoner into the charge of at least two fit and proper persons (one of whom must stay with the prisoner day and night); those persons have full authority to prevent escape and are answerable for the prisoner’s safe custody until discharge or sentence expiry; prison officers are not to be held answerable for escapes unless the prisoner was in their personal custody.

Prisoners must be informed of the Act's provisions, rules and administrative instructions applicable to them; those materials must be printed in the official language and any other languages the Commissioner General determines and made available on admission, and if a prisoner cannot read the languages the officer in charge must explain the contents orally.

Prisoners may communicate with relatives and friends only in accordance with the Act, subject to restrictions the officer in charge may impose; on admission a prisoner is entitled to a reception letter and a visit, and on transfer to a transfer letter.

The Commissioner General may issue a warrant to re-arrest a prisoner released erroneously; that warrant may be executed by any police or prison officer and serves as authority for detention.

Imprisonment imposed instead of a fine ends when the fine is paid or lawfully levied; courts are encouraged to use community service orders as an alternative when an offender fails to pay a fine.

The officer in charge has the power to secure, restrain or isolate a prisoner in specified circumstances; certain harsh treatments are prohibited.

Foreign prisoners must be afforded treatment and facilities similar to national prisoners and be given language-appropriate information and assistance.

The officer in charge must ensure a prisoner is discharged immediately when they become entitled to release.

A convicted prisoner sentenced to more than one month may earn remission equal to one-third of the sentence for good conduct; each prisoner on admission must be credited with the full remission to which they would be entitled at sentence end.

A prisoner may lose remission as punishment for prison-discipline offences, and a prisoner shall not earn remission for periods in hospital caused by their fault or while malingering or while confined as punishment in a separate cell.

The Commissioner General may recommend that the Minister advise the President to grant further remission on special grounds; may restore forfeited remission; and life imprisonment counts as twenty years for remission calculation.

Habitual criminals released under section 82 who were sentenced to three years or more must be released on licence; the Commissioner General grants, may waive conditions, and may revoke or alter licences; magistrates handle warrants and recommitment; revocation or forfeiture can lead to imprisonment up to three months and recommitment for the unexpired portion of the sentence.

The Commissioner General must submit to the Minister responsible for justice a report on the general condition and conduct of every prisoner serving life imprisonment or a term exceeding seven years, at the end of every four years of such imprisonment or at a shorter period the Minister or Commissioner General considers desirable.

The Commissioner General may grant eligible prisoners temporary parole within six months of their release date for up to three months, may recall them at any time, and prisoners who fail to return or breach parole conditions commit offences with specified penalties.

The Service, together with other services and agencies, must ensure that, so far as possible and necessary, released prisoners are provided with documents, housing, work, adequate clothing and means to reach and maintain themselves immediately after release; approved agency representatives shall have necessary access to prison and prisoners and be consulted from the start of the sentence.

Visiting justices must regularly inspect all prisons; specified officials are ex officio visiting justices; the Minister must appoint visiting justices by statutory instrument and may, with consultation and recommendation, appoint local persons by Gazette notice.

Visiting justices may at any time inspect a prison and prisoners; after each visit they must record remarks in the visiting justices’ book; the officer in charge must extract and forward those comments to the Commissioner General; visiting justices may form a board, appoint a chair and report annually; the Minister may determine funds for the board.

Cabinet Ministers or judges may inspect prisons, question prisoners or officers, and record observations in a visitors' book; the officer in charge must keep the visitors' book and inform the Commissioner General of observations entered.

Inspections may be carried out by the Inspector General of Government or the Special Rapporteur on Prisons of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights; and, subject to the permission of the Commissioner General, by teams from other official or external bodies, non-governmental organisations and human rights groups.

The Minister must appoint ministers or priests of any faith as prison ministers; the Commissioner General must make standing orders for prison ministers; religious ministers must visit prisoners and hold religious fellowships and counselling; prison ministers may receive remuneration; prisoners should be allowed to attend services and possess religious books, so far as practicable.

The Minister may make regulations under section 122 to regulate the functions and operations of the Prisons Contracts Committee.

Establishes the Prisons Welfare Fund and sets rules for payments into and out of the Fund, including a duty to deliver money or property of deceased prison officers to specified officials and a ministerial power to provide payments for families by statutory instrument.

Police officers and other law enforcement officers may arrest and detain an accused person in a lock-up pending trial, but only for not more than forty-eight hours from the time of arrest; and a lock-up is not a prison for the purposes of this Act.

The officer in charge of a prison must, before the commencement of a session of the High Court, file in that court a list of every prisoner in the prison awaiting trial in that court, with admission date, authority for detention and last appearance in court.

If a prisoner escapes from lawful custody, the Commissioner General may offer a monetary reward to persons who give information or apprehend and hand over the prisoner, and may pay reasonable expenses; however, prison officers and certain security personnel are not entitled to rewards under subsection (1) unless the Commissioner General considers exceptional circumstances exist.

The Commissioner General may grant a monetary reward or gratuity to a prison officer for injuries, bravery, valuable information obtained by risk or other meritorious service; such rewards require the Minister's approval and are to be paid from specified funds.

A Ugandan citizen sentenced abroad may be transferred to Uganda to serve the sentence, and upon transfer the person shall be subject to this Act as if sentenced by a Ugandan court.

The Minister may, by warrant and subject to the Extradition Act or other law or reciprocal arrangement, authorise transfer of a non‑citizen sentenced in Uganda to serve the remainder of the sentence in their country of citizenship if that country and the prisoner agree.

The Commissioner General and the officer in charge may delegate or assign powers and duties under the Act to specified prison officers, subject to conditions and withdrawal in writing.

The Minister may, by statutory instrument and in consultation with the Commissioner General, make regulations and provide for specified matters relating to the management and governance of prisons and prisoners.

The Minister may, by statutory instrument and with Cabinet approval, amend Schedule 1 to this Act.