PROBATION IN PRACTICE

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 32, 6 August 1921, Page 5

PROBATION IN PRACTICE

MR. 'JUSTICE REED'S PERSONAL OPINION

THE INTENTION OF THE COURT

OF APPEAL

■ Prior to passing sentence upon-prisoß-ers who were iakett before him at thel Supreme Court to-day, his Honour Mr.

Justice Reed expressed his -personal opinion as to what were the intentions of the Court of Appeal when it gave judgment regarding an appeal .against the alleged severity of a sentence, of twelve mouths' imprisonment 'passed by ; his Honour Sir John Salmond upon t a young man 'who had admitted- at* -the Auckland Supreme Court to theft of a Post Office Savings Bank book and the forgery of an application,for.a,.transfer of the account from' " Wellington. to Whangarei. The Court of Appeal,quash-

Ed the 'sentence of imprisonmeni, and ordered that the young man should como up for sentence if called upon within three yeairsj i-e., that he should be adimitted to probaion for three years.

"The question as to when probation should be granted has cotrie prominently before the public in the coarse .of the last week," said his Honour, • ''That is largely due to the.fact.|,hat it'.'is':'r'eported that hiß.Honour.Mr..Justice..Salmond has expressed the' opinion-thai the-effect of a recent decision of the" "Court of Appeal is to establish 1 'that probation is a matter of course and a matter of right in cases of offences of dishonesty unless they are repeated; in other words, every man in this country is entitled to commit one theft'or one forgery' with safety and remain at liberty. 'I cannot agree with his Honours interpretation of the decision in question.'The Court of Appeal laid down no new principle; it. dealt solely .with,.the circumstances of the case under review. 'As ons .of" the members of the Court of Appeal,* and speaking entirely for niyself, T believe the general desire of ita members was' to apply to that case the principles that haye guided the Courts in New Zealand since 1836, when the First Offenders Probation Act was'passed; and in -which it was recited : 'Whereas it would be conducive to the public good if.firisi „-- offenders were in certain cases permitted"" to be at large on probation without suffering imprisonment.' The success of tile administration of,the in the reformation of offenders is beyond question, so much so ■ that last session the Legislature widened the scope of the Act by permitting the Courts to extend its benefits to those who were not first offenders: In the case before 1 the Court of Appeal the prisoner was 22 years of age, he was a first offender, he bore a good character, his release on proba-'' tion was recommended by an experienced probation officer, his employer was prepared to take him back into his" em-

ploy, and he had been, in gaol awaiting sentence and since "sentence sorm" seven weeks. v '. '.

NO NEW PRINCIPLE ENUN-

CIATED.

"The release of this youth on probation was .considered by tho^ Court of Appeal to be in accordance with the principles upon which the Court had always acted in the past. It certainly did riot intend to lay down the principle^ that 'every man in the country is entitled to commit one theft or one forgery.' ' ■'.:".■

"I entirely agjree with his Honour that such a- principle involves 'a doctrine unsound and dangerous, the inevitable result of which is the degradation of the standard of honesty in the country.' It is to be hoped that the time is far distant when'a principle enunciated by the Court of Appeal of New Zealand can be fittingly, so described.

FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED. ,

■ "My own view is that certain factors must always be taken into consideration in deciding whether ths benefits of the Act should be extended to an offender ;

(1) Age of accused, (2) his previous conduct and reputation, (3) whether he has added to his offence by the crime of perjury in the witness box, (4). the Probation Officer's and the police reports on the accused, ■ and particularly where the Probation Officer is a man of experience, whether he recommends probation, (5) nature of tbe offence and the circumstances under which it wascom* mitted. -It may perhaps he necessary also to take into consideration the prevalence of a particular class of crime and 1 the necessity of endeavouring to stamp it out by refusing to admit to probation that special class of offender.

" In my opinion all the above factors must be taken into consideration. If the general result is unfavourable, then I shall' have no hesitation in refusing probation even though the offender h*s never committed a crime before, feeling sure that in doin/r so I am not. acting against" any principle laid. down or in* - plied by the Court of Appeal.''l"'. '