PART 2Prisoners
Prisoners who are not to be paid state pension2
1
Subject to regulation 3, a person is not to be paid a state pension under Part 1 of the Act (state pension) for any period during which the person is a prisoner who is mentioned in paragraph (2).
2
Except where paragraph (3) applies, a person is a prisoner for the purposes of paragraph (1) where the person is—
a
a prisoner in Northern Ireland or elsewhere who is imprisoned or detained in legal custody in connection with, or as a result of, criminal proceedings;
b
a prisoner in Northern Ireland or elsewhere who is unlawfully at large;
c
a prisoner in Northern Ireland who is being detained—
i
under Article 53 of the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (removal to hospital of persons serving sentences of imprisonment etc)5; and
ii
on or before the day which the Department of Justice certifies to be the person’s release date (if any) within the meaning given in Article 56(3) of that Order 6;
3
Where a person outside Northern Ireland is a prisoner within paragraph (2)(a) or (b) and, in similar circumstances in Northern Ireland, the person would not have been a prisoner, the person is not a prisoner within paragraph (2)(a) or (b).
Paying state pension to persons who are remanded in custody3
1
Where a person is remanded in custody for an offence, regulation 2(1) does not apply unless a sentence described in paragraph (2) is later imposed on the person for the offence.
2
Subject to paragraph (3), the described sentences for the purposes of paragraph (1) are—
a
a sentence of imprisonment or detention in legal custody as a result of criminal proceedings;
b
a sentence of detention where the provisions mentioned in regulation 2(2)(c)(i) apply; and
c
a suspended sentence within the meaning given in section 18 of the Treatment of Offenders Act (Northern Ireland) 19687 (suspended sentences of imprisonment).
3
A sentence described in paragraph (2)(a) which is imposed outside Northern Ireland is not a described sentence for the purposes of paragraph (1) if, in similar circumstances in Northern Ireland, a sentence described in paragraph (2)(a) would not have been imposed.