NCJ Number
70620
Journal
Criminologie Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (1979) Pages: 41-57
Date Published
1979
Length
17 pages
Annotation
'Dejudicialization,' 'restitution, and provisional liberty are three correctional or sentencing alternatives with which Quebec's probation service is become more involved.
Abstract
'Dejudicialization' primarily entails the handling of offenders outside the criminal justice system through police discretion that defers offenders to certain services through conciliation, or through alternatives to institutionalization. The probation service is able to assist in this process by advising police officers and others with whom the offender comes into contact on the kind of justice measure that should be taken for which kinds of offenders (as the service does in its presentence reports to the courts). In this way, the service helps to insure the rights of individuals to equal justice. Suspects who receive provisional liberty before their hearing come under the jurisdiction of the probation service for personal needs (counseling) and social services (psychiatric or medical aid, lodging, financial assistance). The probation service can also offer some supervisory control over suspects who may be asked by the court to report periodically to the probation service. Yet, until the suspect pleads guilty, the probation services role is limited to responding to the individuals' needs and cannot offer legal advice to the suspect or to the court. However, with regard to restitution, the probation service can play a very important part in counseling the victim, the offender, and the court in the attempt to arrive at a proper restitution amount and time limit and in determining whether the offender is amenable to acting out a sentence of restitution. All three of these directions have helped enrich the professional lives of probation officers. Many questions still need to be answered regarding all three avenues, but the signs of success are already showing. --in French.