§ (1) Where on an application made by the probationer or the probation officer it appears to the court having power to discharge a probation order made under section 3 of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 that the order is no longer appropriate in the case of the probationer, the court may make, in substitution for the probation order, an order discharging him in respect of the original offence, subject to the condition that he commits no offence between the making of the order under this section and the expiration of the probation period.
§ (2) A person in respect of whom an order is made under this section shall so long as the said condition continues in force be treated in all respects and in particular for the purposes of section 8 of the said Act of 1948 (commission of further offence by probationer or person subject to order for conditional discharge) as if the original order made in his case had been an order for conditional discharge made under section 7 of that Act by the court which made the original order and as if the period of conditional discharge were the same as the probation period.
§ (3) On the making of an order under this section the clerk of the court shall forthwith give copies thereof to the probation officer, who shall give a copy to the person in respect of whom the order is made and to the person in charge of any institution in which that person was required by the probation order to reside.—[Miss Bacon.]
§ Brought up, and read the First time.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Miss Alice Bacon)I beg to move, That the Clause be read a Second time.
In Committee, a similar Clause to this was moved by the right hon. and learned Member for Huntingdonshire (Sir D. Renton) and the Government undertook to do something about this matter later. This Clause is the result. It will enable a probation order to be converted into an order for conditional discharge. The effect of such a conversion would be to 1620 relieve the probation officer and the probationer of the obligations of supervision, while leaving the probationer liable to be dealt with for the original offence if he committed another within the period of the order.
The power to convert could be useful where a probation officer was not able to establish a satisfactory relationship with the probationer—for example, because the latter moved home too often. In such cases, the continuation of the probation order might be of little use, but the court might be reluctant to discharge the order completely.
The only difference between this Clause and that of the right hon. and learned Member is in relation to the court which would discharge the probation order. In this clause, it will be the supervising court and not the original court.
§ Sir D. RentonI thank the right hon. Lady for meeting this point. I believe that the Government have done it in the right way. I am sure that it is right that the supervising court should be the one to discharge the order. The Clause should give some satisfaction to the probation service, as it will marginally reduce their work and will mean that, when there is no point in probation continuing, a probation officer will no longer have a responsibility. I think that this is splendid.
§ Mr. HoggI do not wish to detain the House further. I rose only because I had not seen my right hon. and learned Friend in the Chamber and I wished to thank the right hon. Lady.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Clause read a Second time and added to the Bill.