NCJ Number
90692
Date Published
1981
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study presents criminal justice statistics from India and analyzes them to portray the scope of the crime problem along with areas of criminal justice policy and operations needing reform.
Abstract
Following brief discussions of criminal justice objectives, crime causes, and the nature of crime as an official labeling policy at a given place and time, delays in criminal justice processing in India are noted to be a major problem, causing many accused persons who cannot afford bail to be detained for extended periods. A review of the bail system is urged. Narrative data are presented on the number of criminal cases reported and the number of persons arrested, prosecuted, and tried in India for 1961-70. A brief commentary advises that police, court, and prison statistics should be integrated. Patterns of imprisonment are indicated, followed by an analysis of sentencing practices, which shows that until the period 1961-70, there was limited use of probation. Little progress is noted to have occurred in dealing with mentally ill offenders, due largely to the inadequate development of criminal psychiatry. Attention is also given to the importance of doing justice within the social fabric of society, so that criminogenic conditions do not then make the poor and the oppressed the prime targets of the criminal justice system. Other topics covered include the unfairness of the use of imprisonment in lieu of a fine, the extent and nature of juvenile delinquency, legal aid, the use of counsel in juvenile court, women inmates, inmate grievance procedures, the correctional ombudsman, pardons, and treatment and aftercare.