these measures.
10. However, the introduction as from 1st April, 1973
of legal aid in a substantial proportion of criminal trials in
the District Court should, it is suggested, reduce the amount
of criticism likely to be put forward from that quarter. The
increase in powers of sentence is likely to be welcomed by
the public, as evidence that a tougher attitude is being taken
with regard to sentences of imprisonment, though the main
purpose is to adjust the burden of judicial work as between
the various courts.
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (AMENDMENT) BILL 1973.
11.
During the debate on the Governor's address, on the
15th November, 1972, the Attorney General said that the Govern
ment was considering the introduction of a system of preventive
detention, the object of which is to remove habitual criminals
for long periods from society.
12. A form of preventive detention was in force in the
United Kingdom for almost 20 years after the war and provided
that a person who had been convicted of a serious crime on
three or more previous occasions, and had been sentenced to at
least two custodial sentences, could be detained as a habitual
criminal for between 5 to 14 years. It is, however, fair to
point out that it was abolished in the U.K. in 1967 because
it was considered to have failed in its purpose, because the
courts were reluctant to make use of it. The main reason for
this reluctance was that courts did not like passing a.sentence
of imprisonment for longer than. was appropriate for the offence
of which the accused had just been convicted. The Bill seeks
to avoid this objection by providing that an ordinary sentence
shall be passed for the offence, and one of preventive
detention added thereafter.