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Criminal Law Act 1976
Escape from custody.
6.—(1) Any person who—
(a) aids any person in escaping or attempting to escape from lawful custody or, with intent to facilitate the escape of any person from lawful custody or enable a person after escape to remain unlawfully at large, or with intent to cause injury to persons or property in a place where a person is in lawful custody, conveys any article or thing into or out of such a place or to a person in such a place or places any article or thing inside or outside such a place, or
(b) makes, or takes part in, any arrangement for the purpose of enabling a person to escape from lawful custody, facilitating such an escape, enabling a person after escape to remain unlawfully at large, or causing injury to persons or property in a place where a person is in lawful custody,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
(2) Any person who, contrary to any rules or regulations in force in relation to a prison, conveys or attempts to convey any article or thing into or out of the prison or to a person in the prison, or places any article or thing in any place inside or outside the prison with intent that it shall come into the possession of a person in the prison, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding F1[€3,000] or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
(3) A prison officer may in the interests of security search any person at any time while he is in a prison or while he is in the custody of the governor of a prison.
Annotations
Amendments:
F1
Substituted (1.08.2006) by Criminal Justice Act 2006 (26/2006), s. 196, S.I. No. 390 of 2006, art. 3.
Modifications (not altering text):
C2
Application of section extended, Minister empowered to issue directions on need for investigation (1.10.2007) by Prison Rules 2007 (S.I. No. 252 of 2007), rules 6(1), 54(3), 82(1), in operation as per rule 1(2).
Searching
6. (1) Where a prisoner is -
(a) committed to a prison (whether or not for the first time),
(b) transferred from one prison to another prison, or
(c) is admitted to a prison from a place outside that prison
he or she may be searched pursuant to section 6(3) of the Criminal Law Act 1976 and this Rule.
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Conveying articles into or out of prison
54. (1) A prisoner shall not receive any article or thing from a person from outside of the prison without the permission of the Governor and no person shall, whether during a visit to which these Rules apply or otherwise, convey or attempt to convey any article or thing into or out of a prison or to a prisoner without such permission.
(2) No person, without the permission of the Governor, shall place any article or thing in any place inside or outside the prison or convey by throwing or otherwise into or out of the prison any article or thing with the intent that it shall come into the possession of a person in the prison.
(3) The Minister may issue directions as to the circumstances when a Governor shall be under a duty to report an incident to the Garda Síochána for investigation as to whether an offence has been committed under section 6(2) of the Criminal Law Act, 1976 (No. 32 of 1976) under this Rule.
...
Power to search person and remove person from prison
82. (1) Where the Governor, upon reasonable grounds or in the interests of ensuring safe and secure custody and good government of the prison, believes that prison officers or other persons for the time being employed or engaged in the provision of a service in the prison (other than a prisoner) is, without the permission of the Governor, -
(a) in possession of a prohibited article, or
(b) attempting to take a prohibited article in or out of the prison,
(c) attempting to take any item of official property out of the prison,
the Governor may carry out, or cause to be carried out, a search of that prison officer or other person pursuant to section 6(3) of the Criminal Law Act 1976 and this Rule.
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Editorial Notes:
E2
A fine of £3,000 mentioned in subs. (2)(a) converted (1.01.1999) to €3,809.21. This translates into a class B fine, not greater than €4,000, as provided (4.01.2011) by Fines Act 2010 (8/2010), ss. 3, 5(3) and table ref. no. 1, S.I. No. 662 of 2010.