Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act 2023
Topic: Justice Delivery: Subordinate Courts, Tribunals, Legal Aid and Judicial Reforms · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
This is a model law prepared by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2023. A model law is a sample law that states can copy or adapt. Prisons are entry 4 of the State List, so the Centre cannot impose it, and each state must pass its own law. It is meant to replace the colonial Prisons Act 1894. Its name shows the shift in purpose: prisons should be "correctional", meaning places that reform people, not just punish them.
Example
A state that wants modern prison rules can enact a law based on this model to replace the 1894 Act. The need for reform was shown in Sukanya Shantha (2024), where the Supreme Court struck down rules that gave prisoners work based on their caste.
Don't confuse with
- Prisons Act 1894: this is the old colonial law the model Act aims to replace. It still applies wherever a state has not passed its own new law.
Related concepts
- Bail
- Bailable offence
- Non-bailable offence
- Anticipatory bail
- Default bail
- Satender Kumar Antil case
- Plea bargaining
- Undertrial prisoner
- Maximum detention of undertrials