Book Review: The Rehabilitation of Offenders: A Guide to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
| Author | Peter McGowan |
| Date | 01 January 2000 |
| Published date | 01 January 2000 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X0007300116 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
cross-national boundaries between all agencies involved. Refreshingly,
Mumford acknowledges the holistic impact of decision making and this
well-referenced book carefully encourages the reader to fully consider
the implications in taking short and long-term solutions to complex
problems. This book has clear relevance to the police organization.
Mark C. Kilgallon
Strategic Command Course -National Police Training
THE REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS: A GUIDE TO THE
REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS ACT 1974
Brian Harris, OBE, QC
Barry Rose Law Publishers Ltd, Chichester
As the author points out in the Preface, for this piece of legislation to
still be with us nearly a quarter of a century after becoming law is "a
matter of regret". The complexity of the Act has taxed brains more able
than mine, thus how can it help those who are protected by it?
It was pleasing to have my dread of reading anything to do with this
Act allayed with simple, common sense commentary. Each chapter
dealt with the main areas of the Act and reference to the appropriate
sections was made straightforward, with the Act as an appendice. The
legislation itself is more obscure than it need be and some of the reasons
behind this may find explanation in the historical note.
As a practitioner who has found himself (fortunately infrequently)
trying to interpret this Act, Brian Harris has taken on an unenviable task
of producing this guide. He is, quite clearly, not enamoured by this
legislation and his efforts to make the guide 'user friendly' have
succeeded. Peter McGowan
Detective Sergeant, National Crime Faculty
94 The Police Journal January 2000
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