Whittaker v Johannesburg Gaol, Governor of [1911] ZAWLD 30 (26 June 1911)

Prison - Confinement of Prisoners pending Trial - Differential Restriction of Liberty - Power of Governor of Gaol - Ord.6 of 1906 -Gaol Regulations of 28th Dec., 1906

The object of detaining prisoners pending trial is only to secure their presence at trial, and, apart from any breach of Gaol Regulations or Prison Discipline, the Governor of the Gaol is not entitled to cause the liberty of a particular prisoner who is awaiting trial to be restricted in a more stringent manner than is prescribed for other such prisoners.

Where a particular prisoner, awaiting trial, was being subjected to treatmnent which substantially amounted to solitary confinement, and it appeared that he was so being treated by the Governor of the Gaol acting on instritctions from the Director of Prisons, in order to keep the said prisoner from communicating with another prisoner similarly charged, and not for the purpose of maintaining prison discipline, or the proper management of the Gaol, the Court declared that the Governor of the Gaol was not entitled to treat the said prisoner differently from other prisoners awaiting trial.