27
18
7. In view of the difficulty that is frequently found in deciding whether a defendant's condition at the time of arrest can properly be ascribed to alcohol or not, the Police should not bring a charge of drunkenness if there is any probability of the fact being disputed, without first furnishing themselves with the best evidence they can obtain on the subject. This applies with special force when a defendant's character and antecedents are generally good, and he is therefore likely to use every means open to him to escape a conviction of drunkenness. For this purpose the evidence of a medical man called in to a police station immediately after the arrest of the alleged offender may often be desirable. If drunkenness is denied by a defendant and is proved by the prosecution, the Court may be properly asked to order the defendant to pay the costs involved in calling evi- dence on the point, in addition to any penalty that may be imposed.
Facilities for Defence.
8. Every prisoner should be allowed immediate and ample facilities for communicating with his friends or legal advisers; he should be supplied on request with writing materials; and his letters should be If he so sent by post or otherwise with the least possible delay. desires, telegrams should also be sent at once, at the expense of the prisoner.
9. Every alien should be allowed to communicate immediately by letter or telegram with the Embassy, Legation or Consulate of his country.
10. Facilities should be afforded for interviews between a prisoner and his legal adviser on bona-fide legal business; such an interview should be out of hearing of a police officer, but it is generally desirable that it should take place in the sight of a police officer. This rule should also apply to written communications between a prisoner and his legal adviser-that is to say, any instructions a prisoner may wish to send to a solicitor should be allowed to pass without inspection by the Police.
Illness of Prisoners.
11. Special care should be taken in regard to the treatment of prisoners suffering from illness, the arrangements for their care at the station and during the proceedings in Court, and the manner in which they are taken from the police station to the Court. If therefore a prisoner complains of illness, or shows symptoms of being in a feeble state of health, the police surgeon or some other medical practitioner should be called in to examine him, and in extreme cases, where the medical practitioner thinks risk to life or health would be involved in bringing the prisoner before the Magistrates or detaining him at a police station, it may be necessary to remove him at once to a hospital or infirmary,
12. Care should also be taken to prevent the unnecessary committal to prison of persons physically unfit for prison treatment-e.g., pregnant women, persons suffering from illnesses likely soon to end fatally,
19
etc., and for this purpose a prisoner's examination by the police surgeon or other medical practitioner may be desirable. If the prisoner is found to be suffering from serious illness, a full report on his state of health should be submitted to the Court before whom he is brought.
Verminous Prisoners.
13. It is undesirable that a prisoner arrested in a filthy and ver- minous condition should be taken to the Court where he may be charged, or (after committal) from the Court to Prison, by any public conveyance, omnibus, cab or railway. Arrangements should if possible be made by the Police for cleansing, at workhouses or casual wards, verminous persons brought there for the purpose after arrest who are likely, if not cleansed, to cause a nuisance to the public. A fixed sum may be paid from the police fund to the Poor Law authority for each prisoner so cleansed. The Police would be responsible for taking the prisoner to and from the place of cleansing, and he would remain throughout in their custody. There is no statutory power of compulsion if a verminous prisoner refuses to be cleansed.
Female Prisoners.
14. Female prisoners should be attended by a matron, and arrange- ments should exist for the attendance of a matron whenever her presence is required.
15. The Secretary of State attaches such importance to this matter that he will hesitate to certify a force as satisfactory in point of manage- ment or efficiency unless a sufficient number of matrons has been appointed and such arrangements have been made as may reasonably ensure their presence when required.
Naval, Military and Air Force Prisoners.
16. Prisoners in uniform belonging to the Navy, Marines, Army or Air Force should not, when in custody of the Police, be marched through the streets, but should be conveyed in cabs or other closed vehicles.
Birching of Youthful Offenders.
17. In the event of a Court of Summary Jurisdiction ordering a youthful offender to be birched, it is necessary in carrying out the order to consider (a) the age and (b) the physical constitution of the offender. As regards (a), the rod used for birching children under 10 should be lighter than that used for older offenders; as regards (b), a medical practitioner should be consulted as to the propriety of the punishment being carried out or the severity of it, if there is any reason to suppose that a child is in delicate health or is naturally of a specially weak constitution.
28
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.