Review: Detention before Trial
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836603000211 |
| Date | 01 April 1966 |
| Published date | 01 April 1966 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
DETENTION
BEFORE
TRIAL,
by
Martin
L. Friedland, University of
Toronto
Press:
London:
Oxford University Press. Price 748.
This
is a thoughtful and exhaustive
study
of custody before trial in
the
Toronto
magistrates' courts by an Associate Professor of Law at
the
Osgoode
Hall Law School.
It
will be read with particular interest by
the
British lawyer as a study
of a system which contrasts quite sharply with
the
British system.
The
author devotes his first chapter to the use of
the
summons
and
makes the startling revelation that
the
overwhelming majority of accused
persons charged in
Toronto
with offences against
the
criminal code are
arrested rather than summoned, the variation in the use of the
summons
for
indictable and non-indictable offences being insignificant.
The
learned
author quotes the criminal statistics, England and Wales, to show
that
in
England 65
per
cent of offenders are arrested compared with over 92
per
cent in Toronto.
With
regard to purely summary offences the percentage
arrested in England is about 50; in
Toronto
it was again 92.
The
author suggests
that
the
use of arrest procedure in
Toronto
(even
for minor motoring offences) is for
the
convenience of
the
police.
It
avoids
the
inconvenience of having to apply for a summons; it gives
the
police
opportunity of questioning the accused and getting aconfession; it psycholo-
gically induces guilty pleas in
the
morning at
court;
and, of course, it ensures
attendance of
the
accused at court.
Astrong plea is made for extended use of
the
summons
as
the
normal
process for obtaining an offender's presence in court.
Linked with arrest is
the
question of bail.
It
is intriguing to read
that
after arrest the accused is
"booked"
and only six
per
cent were bailed at
the
police station
prior
to their first court appearance.
The
police have no power
to
grant
bail;
the
accused
must
wait until he is brought before amagistrate
or
until ajustice of
the
peace visits the police station. No justice visits a station
between 7a.rn, and 5 p.rn, or is officially available between 5p.m.
and
8
p.m,
Between 8 p.m. and
10
p.m. two justices are on duty to cover all Metropolitan
Toronto,
and from midnight only one justice is available.
There
are over
20
police stations. Over
the
period of
the
study 84
per
cent of all those arrested
were kept in custody until their first court appearance.
Clearly
Toronto
would benefit by having legislation corresponding to
s. 38
(I)
of
the
Magistrates' Courts Act, 1952,
which
allows a police officer
to bail a prisoner in England.
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