The Gazette 1974

ever, are not cautioned, and must consequently appear in Court. The Children's Act, 1908, has to a large extent re- placed the Summary Jurisdiction over Children Act, 1884. Juvenile Courts may now generally deal with charges against children up to 17 years of age, and the Courts of Justice Act, 1924, provides for special Juvenile Courts in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford. The Dublin Metropolitan Children's Court handles over 16,000 cases a year, involving 5,000 children. The juris- diction of the Juvenile Court in dealing summarily with children under 17 is unlimited, save in cases of murder or manslaughter. Any individual under 15 is deemed a "child" whereas a person between 15 and 17 is a "young person". Juvenile Courts must be held in a private room away from the Courts, but, if there is an appeal to the Circuit Court, no such provision exists in regard to the Circuit Court. The Court can order the attendance of one of the parents of the child, but not both. A child is normally released on bail, but if he is remanded in custody, he has to be sent to the "place of detention", now known as St. Laurence's School, Fin- glas, Dublin. [Editorial Note: The Children's Court may deal with school attendance problems and, despite the absolute guarantee given exclusively to parents in the Constitution, it has not been unknown for Justices to send away children for schooling to badly-run "resi- dential homes" without proper cause.] As most children plead guilty, the work of the Justice is largely confined to sentencing them. A survey entitled "The Project on Juvenile Delin- quency" was published in The Irish Jurist, 1967, and it showed that the average delinquent in St. Patrick s Institution had an intelligence lower than average and committed a crime as a member of a group. There are two possible non-custodial sentences: fining and pro- bation; and four custodial sentences: (1) Children can be sent for one month to a place of detention; (2) Chil- dren between 7 and 12 are sent to industrial schools, whereas children between 12 and 16 are sent to reform- atories, and children between 16 and 19 are sent to St. Patrick's Institution. Industrial schools are now called "Residential Houses", while reformatories and indus- trial schools are called "Special Schools". Fines are more effective than probation for first offenders and the Court can order the parents to pay. Probation provides an opportunity for rehabilitation within a social con- text. While the Court can dismiss the case under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907, it can also place a child under the supervision of a probation officer. In 1969 there were only six probation officers in the Republic, but now there are eighty. Their main duties are to advise and befriend the offender and report to the Court on his behaviour. In addition the Court may commit the juvenile to the care of a "fit person". Industrial schools are run by the Department of Educa- tion, but most of the inmates are not offenders; they are orphans or children whose parents are unable to cope with them as a result of a family breakdown. The present place of detention, replacing Marlborough House, is St. Laurence's School in Finglas. The present male reformatory, replacing Daingean, is at Oberts- town. There are girls' reformatories in St. Joseph's, Limerick, and St. Anne's, Kilmacud. St. Patrick's Insti- tution replaced Clonmel Borstal in 1956 and the majority of male offenders are sent there for detention; there is no corresponding place for girls. In Sheerin v Kennedy (1966) I.R. 379, the Supreme Court consid- 215

range of substitutes for prison, as well as many small residential centres. The fact that most prison sentences do not exceed six months does not detract from the fact that it would be better to impose a fine or proba- tion in the majority of these cases. The emphasis should be not mainly on security, but principally on rehabili- tation. Many are recidivists who spend much time in jail, and an intensive vocational and therapeutic effort should be mounted to help them. The views of the Minister, which emphasise the alleged "welfare of the public" in lieu of rehabilitation, should be condemned as out of line with European prison experience. This extreme concern with security is expressed in the fact that a prisoner spends up to fourteen hours per day in his cell. Rehabilitation must extend to the community, who must help a released prisoner to lead a better life. Undoubtedly most of the prison officers are inade- quately trained and too closely bound by prison regula- tions; very little group counselling with prisoners has been established. It would seem to be necessary to establish four different types of penal institutions : (1) Institutions for recidivists of immature or inadequate personality; (2) Institutions for mentally-handicappcd offenders; (3) Residential institutions for alcoholics and drug-addicted offenders; (4) Institutions for all law breakers who constitute definite social risks, such as aggressive types and professional criminals. Young delinquents should be treated in residential institutions but many others could receive community service orders, fines, suspended sentences, or a supervised probation in lieu of prison. The following groups of boys aged fourteen plus on probation are likely to relapse into crime : (1) Boys with a previous history of behaviour disorder; (2) Boys living in disturbed families; (3) Boys who are prone to associa- in disturbed families; (3) Boys who are prone to associ- ate with gangs or bad company; and (4) Boys who commit their offences alone. All of them lack initiative and are unable to stand on their own feet. The social worker, without being paternalistic, should endeavour to befriend the child's family. It would be much cheaper for a probation officer to look after its young people in a residence rather than to have to visit them. Most short-term prisoners should serve their sentence by en- forced attendance at weekend probation centres. The idea of a union for ex-prisoners should principally be an instrument for the resocialisation of prisoners. The Simon Community of 700 members and PACE are also doing their best to help prisoners. Lawyers who wish the Children's Act, 1908, to be updated should join CARE. Mr. Dermot Gleeson, B.A., LL.B., solicitor, delivered the next lecture on "The Application of the Criminal Code to Children". Since the Kennedy Report on Reformatory and Industrial Schools in 1970, there has been a growing interest in this problem. Let us first consider the Garda Siochana Juvenile Liaison Scheme, which has been in operation since September 1965. The officers concerned interest them- selves in the welfare of potential delinquents. Instead of prosecuting the offender, he is formally cautioned, pro- vided the accused is under 17, admits the offence, has only committed a minor offence, and has not previously come under police notice. Under this scheme, an offen- der cautioned is kept under informed supervision. Of the 7,000 juveniles dealt with under the scheme between 1965 and 1971 only 13 per cent subsequently became involved in crime. The great majority of children, how-