for new entrants, which are found in most prisons. For example, in the WCP, the ward which
holds the new inmates is the I-1 ward. In the event the new entrants ward is overcrowded,
the person will be sent to a normal ward.
Circular No. 36/2014, issued on 19 August 2014, requires police officers to provide a
confidential report on the person they produce in court, to the prison authorities upon the
admission of the person to prison. The purpose of the report is to provide the DOP with
information about the inmate’s criminal record, if any, the nature of the offence, any
attempted or actual escape from police custody, psychological disorders etc. This circular
appears to be observed in the breach because the Commission was informed that such
reports are usually not issued to prisons by the police stations.
Crime Circular 19/2014 (IG Circular 2508/2014) instructs all the Senior Deputy Inspector
Generals, Deputy Inspector Generals (hereinafter referred to as DIG), Division in Charge,
District in Charge, Inspectors of Police (hereinafter referred to as IP) and Officers in Charge
(hereinafter referred to as OIC) to provide a confidential report to prisons when a person is
remanded. In the circular, the Inspector General of Police (hereinafter referred to as IGP)
reiterates the need to submit the report which should include prior offences and the
character of the person, because the CGP has informed him that “due to lack of knowledge
about a person’s prior offences and history, which had hindered evaluating the security
required for a prisoner [when escorting], there have been many escapes”. The Crime Circular
19/2014 instructs all police stations to adhere to the guidelines of Gazette No 321 issued in
31 October 1984 and Circulars 700/87 issued in 16 September 1987 and 1570/2001 issued
in 23 April 2001. The report prepared, as noted in the Gazette, is to be handed over to the
prison in a confidential envelope.
Upon inquiry, the IGP informed the Commission, in a letter dated 12 February 2019, that the
said circular (Crime Circular 19/2014 or IG Circular 2508/2014), “has been widely
circulated to all police officers island wide” instructing them to submit a confidential report
of the prisoner to the prison when the person is remanded. The IGP further states that the
instructions in the said circular “have been carried out continuously and regularly by police
stations island-wide”.
The Commission was informed of instances of such reports being submitted by the police to
prisons, even prior to the issuance of the circular in 2014. For instance, an officer from CRP
RC stated that when he was stationed at ARP, he observed that this procedure was practiced
by certain police stations, even before the circular was issued in 2014. He also pointed out
that the practice is not adhered to consistently by all police stations in the country even after
the circular was issued. The BRP RC highlighted this inconsistency and said that they do not
receive such reports from police stations, except from the police stations belonging to the
Walapane Magistrate Court, which consistently submit these reports to the prison. It was
stated this could be attributed to the Magistrate of Walapane instructing the police stations
to do so. The RC of WCP stated that although the Maligakanda Magistrate Court followed this
practice in 2014 after the issuance of the said circular, it is no longer the case.
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