Penal Reform In England

PENAL REFORM IN ENGLAND INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS ON SOME ASPECTS OF ENGLISH CRIMINAL POLICY FOREWORD BY THE RIGHT HON. THE VISCOUNT GALDECOTE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND PREFACE BY PROFESSOR P. H. WINFIELD K. C., LL. D. CANTAB., HON. LL. D. HARVARD, F. B. A., J. P. SECOND EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTINS STREET, LONDON 1946 CONTENTS FOREWORD ---------vii PREFACE ix I. DEVELOPMENTS IN CRIME AND PUNISHMENT - i by S. K. Ruck, formerly Assistant Director of the Borstal Asso ciation and Secretary of the New Survey of London Life and Labour II. THE TREND OF CRIMINAL LEGISLATION - - - 18 by Cicely M. Craven, M. A., J. P., Honorary Secretary, Howard League for Penal Reform III. THE ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE - 33 by the late Albert Lieck, sometime Chairman of the Metro politan Juvenile Courts Chief Clerk of the Bow Street Police Court IV. THE ENGLISH POLICE SYSTEM General Development and Outstanding Features - - - - - 60 by Sir John Maxwell, C. B. E., formerly. Uliief Constable, Manchester V. THE JURISDICTION OF JUVENILE COURTS 98 by A. C. L. Morrison, C. B. E., Chief Clerk of the Bow Street Police Court previously Chief Clerk of the Metropolitan Juvenile Courts. VI. THE TREATMENT OF THE JUVENILE DELINQUENT - - 106 by W. A. Elkin, author of English Juvenile Courts VII. THE PROBATION SYSTEM 118 by C. D. Rackham, M. A., J. P., Vice-Chairman, Howard League for Penal Reform VIII. APPROVED SCHOOLS 128 by Lt.-Col. Sir Vivian Henderson, M. C., D. L., J. P., President of Association of Managers of Approved Schools a Chairman of the Metropolitan Juvenile Courts IX. THE BORSTAL SYSTEM - - - - - - 1 43 by Margery Fry, LL. D., formerly Principal of SomervilleCollege, Oxford VI CONTENTS PAGE X. THE PRISON SYSTEM - - - - - - - 164 by John A. F. Watson, J. P., Vice-President of the National Association of Prison Visitors a Chairman of the Metropolitan Juvenile Courts XL APPENDIX PRISON REFORM Some Authoritative Recom mendations - - - - - - - - 179 compiled by I. H. Reekie, Assistant Secretary, Howard League for Penal Reform XII. INDEX 186 FOREWORD I HAVE read these Essays. I have learned a great deal of which I was unaware. The writers are all skilled in the subjects on which they have written. Whenever they offer an opinion or propose some approach to a problem their views deserve atten tion. Indeed my only complaint is that some of the authors confine their essays too much to facts and figures. It is a fault on the right side. The statistics which the reader is told have been kept since 1857 are invaluable as a basis for accurate diagnosis. The old question of the purpose behind penal provisions crops up over and over again, as might be expected in a book of which the title is Penal Reform in England. The Criminal Justice Bill which Sir Samuel Hoare almost brought into port naturally receives notice from several of the writers. The references are, I think, always on the side of the reformatory and against the de terrent theory. I myself have visited the two open Borstals at Loudham and the North Sea Camp. I was made to see what a powerful deterrent it is to a youth to be trusted. It adds to the weight of the sentence imposing on a youth what must seem to many a long period of detention. I have noted many points in the course of my reading. I feel however that I should be well advised if I do not refer to any of them. The book will repay thereader whose own comments will be of greater value and interest to him than any of mine. Our prison system has long needed overhauling. This book will be a great help to the student as well as to the politicians and the civil servants who may be engaged in the task. CALDECOTE. ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE, LONDON. PREFACE FTIHE first edition of this book appeared in 1940, and some in-JL formation as to its scope may be given here for the benefit of those whose acquaintance with it begins with this new edition...