Corporal Punishment (CAP. 106 1

CHAPTER 106

T H E CORPORAL PUNISHMENT ACT

Arrangement of Sections
Section

1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3 . Abolition of corporal punishment in certain cases.
4. Corporal punishment in prisons.
5. Corporal punishment on conviction of certain offences
6. Execution of sentence.
7. Maximum number of strokes.
8. Certificate of medical practitioner.
9. Stopping flogging or whipping.

10. Sentence of whipping.
11. Person under eighteen to be whipped not flogged.
12. Evidence of age from appearance or otherwise.
13. Sentence of flogging.
14. Period between flogging.
15. Female not to be whipped or flogged.

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Corporal Punishment (CAP. 106 3

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

(23rd December, 1949 .) 811949.
911953.

3211956.
2011967.

1. This Act may be cited as the Corporal Punishment short title.
Act.

2. In this Act- Interpretation.

"Court" means the High Court or a Magistrate's
Court;

"juvenile" means any male person who, in the absence
of direct evidence, is in the opinion of the Court
under the age of sixteen years.

3. ( 1 ) Save as provided in this section, no person Abolition of
shall be sentenced by a Court to whipping or flogging, and " ~ " . T I ~ L ~ ~ ~ in
so far as any enactment confers power on a Court to pass certain cases.
a sentence of whipping or flogging it shall cease to have effect:

Provided that a Court may impose a sentence of
whipping on the conviction of a juvenile for any offence com-
mitted by him, and in any such case, the instrument to be
used for carrying out the sentence shall be a rod of tamarind
and the number of strokes which may be ordered to be in-
flicted shall not exceed twelve.

( 2 ) A juvenile sentenced to be whipped may be
detained in such place as the Court may determine for such
time as is necessary in order that the sentence may be carried
into effect.

( 3 ) No such punishment shall be inflicted except in
the presence of, and unless the person to be punished is
examined by a duly qualified medical practitioner and
certified by him to be capable of sustaining such punishment.

4. (1) Except in the case of the undermentioned ;:;?:tent in
offences against prison discipline committed by a male person prisons.

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

4 CAP. 106) Corporal Punishment

serving a sentence of imprisonment and for which corporal
punishment is authorised by rules made under the Prison

Cap. 341. Act, that is to say-

(a) Mutiny;

(6 ) Incitement to mutiny;

(c) Gross personal violence to an officer of a prison,
corporal punishment shall not be inflicted in any prison.

(2) Whenever corporal punishment is ordered to be
inflicted for offences against prison discipline, the instrument
to be used in carrying out the punishment shall be such as
the Governor-General may approve and the number of
strokes which may be ordered to be inflicted shall not exceed
twenty-four:

Provided that in any case in which the cat-0'-nine tails
shall be approved by the Governor-General it shall be applied
on the back of the person to be punished and where the rod
of tamarind is approved it shall be applied to the buttocks
of the person.

Corporal 5 . Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 3
punishment on
conviction of and 4, from and after the 24th day of February, 1967, a
certain offences. Court may, subject to the following provisions of this Act,

pass a sentence of corporal punishment by whipping or flog-
ging in addition to any other punishment authorised by any
law in force in Antigua and Barbuda upon any person con-
victed of any of the following offences:-

(i) wounding or causing grievous bodily harm to
any person where a cutlass, knife, razor,
sword, dagger, bayonet, firearm or any
explosive, corrosive, dangerous, deadly or
destructive means or instrument is used;

(ii) being armed with any offensive weapon or
instrument, or being together with one other
person or more, robs or assaults with intent
to rob, any person;

(iii) robbing any person and at the rime of or
immediately before or immediately after rob-
bing using any personal violence to any
person;

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Corporal Punishment (CAP. 106 5

(iv) assaulting any person with intent to rob that
person.

6. A sentence of flogging shall be carried into exe- FZ,",:,","~ of
cution in the Prison under the direction of the Superintendent
of Prisons in the presence of a medical practitioner in
accordance with prison rules.

7. The number of strokes which may be ordered or E2b~p:~
inflicted in executing a sentence of whipping or flogging in ,trokes.
respect of any one offence shall not exceed twenty-four:

Provided that where by any law a less number of strokes
is fixed as the maximum, the number shall in such case not
exceed such less number.

8. No corporal punishment shall be inflicted unless ziiy of
the person to be punished shall first have been certified, after practitioner.
medical examination by a duly qualified medical practitioner,
to be capable of sustaining such punishment.

9. If during the execution of a whipping or flogging Stopping flogging
or whipping.

a medical practitioner certifies that the offender is not in
a fit state of health to undergo the remainder of the sentence,
the whipping or flogging shall not be proceeded with.

10. (1) The sentence of whipping shall be to be whip- $:;:&nf
ped once.

(2) Such whipping shall be with a light rod or cane or
bunch of tamarind or other twigs, and the sentence shall
specify the number of strokes.

(3) A tamarind rod shall be used in the case of persons
under eighteen years of age.

(4) Where the tamarind rod is used it shall be applied
to the buttocks of the person only.

11. A person under eighteen years of age shall not f';,"enu;$e
be sentenced to flogging but in lieu thereof, may be sentenced whipped not
to be whipped once. flogged.

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6 CAP. 106) Corporal Punishment

Evidence of age
from appearance

12. For the purpose of awarding the punishment of
or whipping, the court may decide that a person is under the

age of eighteen years from the appearance of such person
or upon any other evidence satisfactory to the court.

Sentence of
flogging.

13. (1) The sentence of flogging shall be to be flogged
once.

(2) Such flogging shall be with a cat-0'-nine tails or other
instrument of a pattern approved by the Governor-General
and the sentence shall specify the number of strokes.

(3) In any case in which a cat-0'-nine tails is being used,
it shall be used on the back of the person to be punished.

Period between
flogging.

14. No person shall after being flogged, be again
flogged, until the expiration of twenty-one days from the
former flogging.

Female not to be
whipped or

15. No sentence of whipping or flogging shall be
flogged. passed upon a female of any age.