any person who might have been sentenced either to transportation or imprisonment may now be sentenced either to penal servitude or imprisonment. But in cases where before the Act sentence of seven years' transportation might have been passed, the court may now pass sentence of not less than five years' penal servitude (r). finement in Persons sentenced to penal servitude may be con- Place of confined in any prison, or place of confinement in any part penal serviof the United Kingdom, or in any river, port, or har- tude. bour of the United Kingdom, in which persons under sentence or order of transportation might formerly be confined, or in any other prison in the United Kingdom, or in Her Majesty's dominion beyond the sea, as one of Her Majesty's secretaries of state may direct. And in other respects, as to custody, hard labour, management, control, property in their services, and punishment for unlawfully being at large before the expiration of their term (s), they may be dealt with as persons sentenced to transportation formerly were (t). The shortest term of penal servitude which can be awarded is five years (u). Imprisonment.-As a general rule, no longer sentence Imprisonment. of imprisonment than for two years can be awarded. From that to penal servitude (if allowed in the particular case) for five years there is a spring. But under some statutes still in force, imprisonment to the extent of three or four or even more years may be awarded, for example, under 24 & 25 Vict. c. 134, S. 221; 24 & 25 Vict. c. 98, s. II;7 Wm. 4 and 1 Vict. c. 36, s. 26; 2 Geo. 2, c. 25, s. 2; 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 28, S. I I. (r) 20 & 21 Vict. c. 3, s. 2; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 47, §. 2. (t) 16 & 17 Vict. c. 99, s. 6; 20 & 21 Vict. c. 3, s. 3. Fine. Hard labour. Fine. In offences punishable by fine usually the amount of the fine is not restricted by statute. The reason of this is obvious. Not only does the value of money change from time to time, but a fine which would be ruin to one man would be matter of indifference to another (x). The Bill of Rights provides that excessive fines shall not be imposed. It would be imprudent to hinder a man from getting his livelihood; and if the crime demands more severe punishment, the court may award imprisonment, for it is generally empowered to award either the one or the other, and frequently both. Felonies are very rarely punished by mere fine (y). Each of the Criminal Consolidation Acts, 1861, provides that a person convicted of a misdemeanor under those Acts may be fined in addition to or in lieu of other punishment (z). Hard Labour. This punishment may be added in nearly all classes to imprisonment for felony. The misdemeanors to the imprisonment for which hard labour may be added are enumerated in 3 Geo. 4, c. 114, and 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, s. 29. Each of the Criminal Consolidation Acts, 1861, contains a clause to the effect that the court may add hard labour to imprisonment in case of indictable offences, felonies or misdemeanors, under those Acts (a). Also in offences under the Post Office Acts for which imprisonment may be awarded, the court may add hard labour (b). So that in nearly every case now hard labour may accompany imprison ment. Two classes of hard labour are distinguished-one for the employment of males above the age of sixteen; (x) 4 Bl. 378. (y) v. 24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 5. (2) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 117; c. 97, s. 73; c. 98, s. 51 ; c. 99, s. 38; c. 100, s. 71. (a) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 118; c. 97, s. 74; c. 98, s. 52; c. 99, s. 39; c. 100, s. 69. (b) 7 Wm. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 36, s. 42. the other for that of males below that age and of females. Regulations as to its nature and application are made by statute (c). Whipping. Two classes of cases in which whipping Whipping, is allowed must be distinguished:-(i.) of males below the age of sixteen; (ii.) of males of any age. It should be premised that a female can never be whipped. Where formerly sentence of whipping might be passed, the court or magistrate may now order the female to be kept to hard labour for a term not exceeding six months nor less than one month, in lieu of the whipping (d). nile offenders: i. By three of the Consolidation Acts whipping may in case of juvebe inflicted for a variety of specified offences committed by males under the age of sixteen, and in one case, males under the age of eighteen (e). It is to take place once, and the number of strokes and the instrument with which they are to be inflicted are to be specified by the court in the sentence (ƒ). When this punishment is awarded by the magistrates in the exercise of their summary jurisdiction, the sentence must specify the number of strokes and the instrument; and in the case of an offender whose age does not exceed fourteen, the number of strokes must not exceed twelve, and the instrument used must be a birch rod. And for a child under the age of ten the number of strokes must not exceed six. The offender must not be whipped more than once for the same offence (g). ii. Whipping once, twice, or thrice, may be awarded in case of to males of any age in case of : (c) 28 & 29 Vict. c. 126, s. 19, and Part IV. sched. i. regs. 34-37. (d) I Geo. 4, c. 57, s. 2. (e) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 101. This exception is probably a mere oversight on the part of the legislature. (f) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 119; c. 97, s. 75; c. 100, s. 70. (g) 25 & 26 Vict. c. 18; 42 & 43 Vict. c. 49, ss. 10, II. males of any age. Solitary confinement. Police supervision. (a.) Robbery, &c., with violence-or an attempt to choke, suffocate, or strangle. The following regulations must be observed:-The whipping must be privately inflicted; (B) if the age of the offender does not exceed sixteen, the number of strokes at each whipping must not exceed twenty-five, and the instrument must be a birch rod; (y) in other cases not more than fifty strokes at a whipping; (8) the court must specify the number of strokes and the instrument; (e) the whipping must not take place after six months from the sentence; () in the case of a person sentenced to penal servitude, the whipping must be inflicted before he is removed to a convict prison (h). (b.) Felony, after a previous conviction for felony; and certain offences relating to the falsifying of certificates of previous conviction. The whipping is to be publicly or privately inflicted (i). (c.) Felony for which no particular punishment has been provided (k). Solitary Confinement. -This may be ordered in certain specified cases mentioned in the Criminal Consolidation Acts. Also for felonies for which no particular punishment has been prescribed by statute (1); and for certain other offences which it is unnecessary to enumerate. But in no case may a prisoner be kept in solitary confinement for any longer period than one month at a time, or than three months in the space of one year (m). Police Supervision.-When any person is convicted on an indictment for a crime (explained by the Act to (h) 26 & 27 Vict. c. 44. (i) 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 28, s. II. (k) Ibid. s. 8. (7) Ibid. s. 9. (m) 7 Wm. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 90, s. 5; 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 119; c. 97, s. 75; c. 98, s. 53; c. 99, s. 40; c. 100, s. 70. mean in England-any felony, or the offence of uttering false or counterfeit coin, or of possessing counterfeit gold or silver coin, or of obtaining by false pretences, or of conspiracy to defraud, or of any misdemeanor under 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 58), and a previous conviction of a crime is proved against him, the court may, in addition to any other punishment, direct that he is to be subject to the supervision of the police for a period of seven years or less, commencing immediately after the expiration of the sentence passed on him for the last of such crimes (n). sists in. The consequence of such sentence is that the person What it conto be supervised must notify the place of his residence to the chief officer of police of the district in which his residence is situated, or to the constable or person in charge of the chief office or of the office or station to which he has received notice to report himself; and must also notify any change within such district; and if he goes out of the district, he must notify the change to such officer or constable in the district he is leaving, and also to such officer or constable in the district to which he is going. If a male, he must report himself personally or by letter, as required, once a month, to the chief officer of the district, or such other officer or constable as above mentioned. If he offends against these regulations, or is forty-eight hours in any place without notifying the place of his residence to the chief officer or such other officer or constable as above mentioned, he is subject to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding one year (o). Recognizances and Sureties.-Under each of the Cri- Entering into minal Consolidation Acts, in case of conviction for an and finding recognizances indictable misdemeanor punishable under those Acts, sureties. (n) 34 & 35 Vict. c. 112, s. 8. |