Though the probation system has now been practised in the
Courts of this country for some thirty years, and has had ample time to prove its value, there is nothing superfluous in a Home Office booklet issued on Monday to explain the objects and organisation of the system for the benefit of magistrates. As Sir Samuel Hoare rightly says in a fore- word, "probation is undoubtedly the most effective expedient that has been yet devised for dealing successfully with a large number of offenders who come before the Courts and for preventing the growth of serious crime." That 51 per cent, of those under the age of 17 who were convicted in 1935 of indictable offences should have been placed on probation gives evidence of the extent to which the system is employed. The equivalent percentage for those over 17 years was 17 per cent. The value and efficiency of probation, which is voluntarily accepted by offenders, depends as much upon the intelligent use of it by magistrates as upon the ability of the probation-officers to carry it out. Magistrates cannot make the fullest use of the system unless they have a full understanding of its methods and objects. Guidance from the Home Secretary on the subject is apposite.
* * * *
Previous page
