The Gazette 1961 - 64

as too lenient, and those who thought the penal] system was too harsh. The three necessary elementsl in punishment were Deterrence (discouraging others), Retribution (a link between the heinousness of the crime and the severity of the punishment) and Restitution (Restoring to a victim as far as possible what has been taken away). As Pope Pius XII said, retributive punishment should help towards rehabilitation, yet one cannot be rehabilitated until one recognises one's sin. While the prisoner should be prepared to accept the justice of the punishment, at the same time the judges and the public should identify themselves more actively with the future of the prisoner. The Chief Justice thought that, in assessing punishment, judges were laymen and that as far as possible they should interest themselves in the future welfare of the prisoners whom they have sentenced ; the community should help ex-prisoners in securing employment. It was disturbing that on the whole imprisonment had no beneficial effect on prisoners ; perhaps the idea of a week-end prison to enable prisoners to purge short term sentences could be considered. On the Continent, the injured party could take an action for damages for murder, and a study of penology by law students should be actively considered. Mr. Edward Fahy, B.L., stated that he knew from personal experience that the best detectives in Dublin had left the force, and that consequently the number of crimes now detected had diminished considerably. The major cause of juvenile delinquency was lack of parental control, and this applied as much to rich as to poor parents. When visiting the Malone Institute, Belfast, he had been impressed by the letters which the ex-borstal boys had written to the Governor. Dr. Keith Simpson stressed that many habitual criminals were mental patients who required essential treatment. In the Welfare State, too many people had obtained big pay packets who did not know how to make the best use of the money. Dr. Eustace, Rev. Professor O'Doherty, Dr. Meenan and Mr. Donough O'Donovan also spoke. Mr. Justice Murnaghan, in summing up, stated that in most cases the mental condition of the prisoner towards his punishment was inalterable. In his view the prevalence of divorce in England had lowered the moral outlook of the people, and was responsible for the great increase in crime. The practical applic ation of imposing punishment was the most difficult task a judge had to perform, as so many factors, such as the effect on the prisoner's family, had to be considered. APPELLATE PROCEDURE IN ENGLAND " The Times " for Friday March 23rd reports that the Master of the Rolls presiding in the Court of

Appeal announced that in view of comments by United States jurists on the English appellate system immediate steps would be taken by way of experiment to reduce the time taken in the hearing of appeals by the court. For the purposes of the experiment each member of the court will have read (i) the pleadings or the originating summons (or their equivalent), (2) the order under appeal, (3) the notice of appeal and respondent's notice (if any) and (4) the judgment of the trial judge together with ?ny cases cited by him in his judgment. It was proposed to introduce the experiment in connection with the appeals tribunal list on the following week. The proposal was made with the full support of the Lord Chancellor and representatives of the Bar and the Law Society had been consulted. The visiting American jurists had drawn attention to the length of time so fre quently taken up in the court by the reading of documents, including the judgment under appeal and the cases therein cited, and it had been pointed out that the result must often be substantially to increase the costs. It was not, however, intended to fetter in any way the right of counsel to full oral argument of their cases. (See also [1962] i All E.R. 897). CHARITIES ACT, 1961 The attention of members is drawn to the following important provisions of the Act:— Ci) In the Schedule to the Act, the whole of the Charitable Donations and Bequests ("Ireland) Act 1844 is repealed as from the ist July, 1961 ; this includes inter alia Section 16, and it is therefore no longer necessary to make use of an " O'Hagan clause " in a will in order that a charitable donation or devise will be valid if made within three months of the death of the testator. (2) Under Section 29 of the Charities Act 1961, the powers given to the Commissioners to frame cy-pres schemes in cases where the charitable inten tion of the testator cannot be carried out are con siderably widened ; the Commissioners may hence forth direct this intention to be carried out with due regard to the spirit of the gift, if the charitable gift does not exceed £5,000 and for this purpose the value of the land is to be taken as 50 times the poor law valuation. (3) Under Section 32 of the 1961 Act, the Com missioners are henceforth given power to invest charity funds under their control in securities not authorised by law or not authorised by the trust instrument, and the Commissioners may permit ordinary charity trustees to do likewise. Investments of charity funds however will be confined generally to Irish securities.