Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1949
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act , 1949
(12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6) CHAPTER 94
An Act to amend the law of Scotland relating to the probation of offenders, and the powers of courts under the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937; to abolish certain punishments and obsolete sanctions, and otherwise to reform existing methods and provide new methods of dealing with offenders; to alter the law relating to the proceedings of criminal courts in Scotland; to amend the False Oaths (Scotland) Act, 1933; to regulate the management of prisons and other institutions in Scotland and the treatment of offenders and other persons committed to custody; to make certain consequential amendments to the Criminal Justice Act, 1948; and for purposes connected with the aforesaid matters.
[16th December 1949]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I.
Powers and Proceedings of Courts .
Discharge.
1 Absolute discharge.
1. Where—
the court, if it is of opinion, having regard to the circumstances, including the nature of the offence and the character of the offender, that it is inexpedient to inflict punishment and that a probation order is not appropriate may, instead of sentencing him, and, in the case of a court of summary jurisdiction without proceeding to conviction, make an order discharging him absolutely.
Probation.
2 Probation.
(1) Where—
(a ) a person is convicted on indictment of an offence (other than an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law), or
(b ) a person is charged before a court of summary jurisdiction with an offence (other than an offence the sentence for which is fixed by law) and the court is satisfied that he committed the offence,
the court, if it is of opinion, having regard to the circumstances, including the nature of the offence and the character of the offender, that it is expedient to do so, may, instead of sentencing him, and, in the case of a court of summary jurisdiction without proceeding to conviction, make a probation order, that is to say an order requiring the offender to be under supervision for a period to be specified in the order of not less than one nor more than three years.
(2) A probation order shall be in the form as nearly as may be of the First Schedule to this Act and shall name the probation area in which the offender resides or is to reside, and the court making the order shall nominate a salaried or a voluntary probation officer, or a salaried and a voluntary probation officer to act jointly:
Provided that where the offender resides or is to reside in a probation area in which the court has no jurisdiction, the court, in lieu of nominating a probation officer or officers, shall name the appropriate court, being such a court as could have been named in any amendment of the order in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act, and that court shall nominate the probation officer or officers.
(3) Any salaried probation officer nominated in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection shall be selected from among the salaried probation officers for the area named in the probation order.
(4) Subject to the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Act relating to probationers who change their residence, an offender in respect of whom a probation order is made shall be required to be under the supervision of the probation officer or officers nominated as aforesaid.
(5) Subject to the provisions of the next following section, a probation order may in addition require the offender to comply during the whole or any part of the probation period with such requirements as the court, having regard to the circumstances of the case, considers necessary for securing the good conduct of the offender or for preventing a repetition by him of the offence or the commission of other offences.
(6) Without prejudice to the generality of the last foregoing subsection, a probation order may include requirements relating to the residence of the offender:
Provided that—
(a ) before making an order containing any such requirements, the court shall consider the home surroundings of the offender; and
(b ) where the order requires the offender to reside in an approved probation hostel, an approved probation home or any other institution or place, the name of the institution or place and the period for which he is so required to reside shall be specified in the order, and that period shall not extend beyond twelve months from the date of the requirement or beyond the date when the order expires.
(7) Before making a probation order, the court shall explain to the offender in ordinary language the effect of the order (including any additional requirements proposed to be inserted therein under subsection (5) or subsection (6) of this section or under the next following section) and that if he fails to comply therewith or commits another offence during the probation period he will be liable to be convicted of and sentenced for the original offence or, if that offence was tried on indictment, to be sentenced therefor, and the court shall not make the order unless the offender expresses his willingness to comply with the requirements thereof.
(8) The clerk of the court by which a probation order is made or of the appropriate court, as the case may be, shall cause copies thereof to be given to the probation officer or officers nominated in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section, to the probationer, to the probation committee for the probation area in which the probationer resides or is to reside and to the person in charge of any institution or place in which the probationer is required by the order to reside.
(9) Where a probation order requires the probationer to reside in any institution or other place, not being—
(a ) an approved probation hostel or approved probation home; or
(b ) an institution in which he is required to reside for the purposes of any such treatment as is mentioned in paragraph (a ) or paragraph (b ) of subsection (2) of the next following section,
the court shall forthwith give notice of the terms of the order to the Secretary of State.
3 Probation orders requiring treatment for mental condition.
(1) Where the court is satisfied, on the evidence of a registered medical practitioner appearing to the court to be experienced in the diagnosis of mental disorders, that the mental condition of an offender is such as requires and as may be susceptible to treatment but is not such as to justify his being certified as a lunatic under the Lunacy (Scotland) Act, 1862, or as a defective under the Mental Deficiency and Lunacy (Scotland) Act, 1913, the court may, if it makes a probation order, include therein a requirement that the offender shall submit, for such period not extending beyond twelve months from the date of the requirement as may be specified therein, to treatment by or under the direction of a registered medical practitioner with a view to the improvement of the offender's mental condition.
(2) The treatment required by any such order shall be such one of the following kinds of treatment as may be specified in the order, that is to say—
(a ) treatment as a voluntary boarder under section fifteen of the Lunacy (Scotland) Act, 1866;
(b ) treatment as a resident patient in such institution or place approved for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State as may be specified in the order;
(c ) treatment as a non-resident patient at such institution or place as may be specified in the order; or
(d ) treatment by or under the direction of such registered medical practitioner as may be specified in the order;
but except as aforesaid the nature of the treatment shall not be specified in the order.
(3) A court shall not make a probation order containing such a requirement as aforesaid unless it is satisfied that arrangements have been or can be made for the treatment intended to be specified in the order, and, if the offender is to be treated as a voluntary boarder or as a resident patient, for his reception.
(4) While the probationer is under treatment as a voluntary boarder or as a resident patient in pursuance of a requirement of the probation order, the probation officer or officers responsible for his supervision shall carry out the supervision to such extent only as may be necessary for the purpose of the discharge or amendment of the order.
(5) Where the medical practitioner by whom or under whose direction a probationer is being treated for his mental condition in pursuance of a probation order is of opinion that part of the treatment can be better or more conveniently given in or at an institution or place not specified in the order, being an institution or place in or at which the treatment of the probationer will be given by or under the direction of a registered medical practitioner, he may, with the consent of the probationer, make arrangements for him to be treated accordingly; and the arrangements may provide for the probationer to receive part of his treatment as a resident patient in...
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