Restitution ordered by a magistrate. the court to be given to the purchaser of the property, if he did not know that the same was stolen. This takes place only after he has restored the property to the owner; and of course the amount so given must not exceed the amount of the proceeds of the sale (a). If the property has been pawned, the court may order the delivery thereof to the owner, either on payment to the pawnbroker of the amount of the loan or of any part thereof, or without payment of any part, as the court, according to the conduct of the owner and the other circumstances of the case, thinks just and fitting (b). Restitution may be ordered in the same way by magistrates convicting of larceny, &c., in the exercise of their summary jurisdiction (c). (a) 30 & 31 Vict. c. 35, 8. 9. CHAPTER XXI. PUNISHMENT. THE object of the sentence is to prescribe the punish- Punishment. ment. The law, whether common law or statute law, which assigns the punishment, almost unexceptionally gives the judge a certain latitude as to the amount of punishment. Though he is restricted as to the maxi- Minimum punishments mum, in almost every case he can give as little as he abolished. pleases, minimum punishments having been abolished by statute (d). On conviction for treason or murder, however, sentence of death must be passed (e). Crimes against nature must be punished by at least ten years penal servitude. Some crimes demand a wide limit of punishment; for example, manslaughter, where it may range from penal servitude for life to a merely nominal punishment, according to the circumstances. But practically this works well, as the judges are quite competent to apportion the punishment to the crime; and the inconvenience of reposing that confidence in them is a less evil than the multiplication of technical distinctions which inevitably results from the multiplication of the definitions of crime (ƒ). ment for The punishment prescribed by statute for felonies Usual punishis usually penal servitude for not less than five years, felonies. or imprisonment not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour. When the punishment is not prescribed by statute, the combined effect of several (d) 9 & 10 Vict. c. 24. (e) v. p. 276 for two offences anomalously capital. Usual punishment for statutes (g) is, that such felonies may be punished by penal servitude for not more than seven nor less than five years, or by imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years; and, if a male, the court may order the felon to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped in addition to such punishment. The punishment prescribed by statute for mismisdemeanors, demeanors is usually fine or imprisonment, or both; and it is also the same when it is not prescribed by statute, but left to the common law (h). The court may also require the defendant to find sureties to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. Punishment conviction. The punishment for a felony (not punishable with after previous death and not being simple larceny), after a previous conviction for felony, is penal servitude for life or for not less than five years, or imprisonment not exceeding four years; and in the case of a male, if the court thinks fit, whipping publicly or privately, once, twice, or thrice (i). Simple larceny after previous conviction. Special enactments impose certain terms of punishment in the case of conviction for simple larceny after previous conviction for certain offences. The punishment for simple larceny, after previous conviction for felony, is penal servitude from five to ten years, or imprisonment not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, or solitary confinement; and in the case of a male under sixteen years of age, with or without whipping (k). For simple larceny, or any offence made punishable as simple larceny by the Larceny Act, (g) 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 28, s. 8 (see also s. 9); 20 & 21 Vict. c. 3, s. 2; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 47, s. 2. (h) As to hard labour, v. p. 460. (i) 7 & 8 Geo. 4, c. 28, s. 11; 20 & 21 Vict. c. 3, s. 2; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 47, s. 2; 42 & 43 Vict. c. 55, s. 1. This statute has reduced the minimum term of penal servitude, after a previous conviction for felony, from seven to five years. See also R. v. Horn, 48 L. T. N. S. 272. (k) 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 7. after previous conviction for any indictable misdemeanor under the Larceny Act, the punishment is penal servitude from five to seven years, or imprisonment as in the last case (1). The same limits of punishment apply to simple larceny, or an offence punishable as simple larceny, after two summary convictions for offences punishable upon summary conviction under certain enumerated Acts (m). counterfeit viction. For uttering, &c., counterfeit coin, after previous Uttering, &c., conviction for such crime, or previous conviction for coin after a felony against a Coinage Act, the punishment is previous conpenal servitude for life, or for not less than five years, or imprisonment not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour, or solitary confinement (n). of punishment concurrent or continuous. We may notice here that if the prisoner is found Several terms guilty of several distinct offences on different counts, he may be sentenced to several terms of punishment; such terms to be concurrent, or the second to commence at the expiration of the first (o). When a sentence for felony is passed on a person already suffering imprisonment for another crime, the court may order the imprisonment for the subsequent offence to commence at the expiration of the former term; so also the court may order a sentence of penal servitude to commence after the previous imprisonment or penal servitude, although the aggregate term of imprisonment or penal servitude respectively may exceed the term for which either of these punishments could be otherwise awarded (p). The punishments which the law prescribes are the Sanctions of following: Death; Penal Servitude; Imprisonment; Fine. the law enumerated. Death. Penal servitude. Incidental to the imprisonment are sometimes Hard Labour; Whipping; Solitary Confinement. In addition to other punishment there is often made an order that the person convicted be under police supervision for a certain time. Again, in some cases the ends of justice are attained by requiring the prisoner to enter into recognizances to come up for judgment if called for; which generally means that if he conducts himself with propriety he will hear nothing more of the matter. The prisoner may also be required to find sureties to keep the peace, or to be of good behaviour. Youthful offenders, under certain circumstances, may be sent to reformatories or industrial schools. Each of the above-named sanctions of the law will in turn receive a brief notice. Death. This is the only punishment which must be awarded in treason and murder. And it cannot be awarded in any other cases except piracy, or the two crimes of setting fire to Her Majesty's vessels of war or to ships, &c., in the port of London (q). Penal Servitude.-This mode of punishment was introduced in substitution for transportation beyond the seas in certain cases by 16 & 17 Vict. c. 99, and totally superseded transportation by 20 & 21 Vict. c. 3. It was placed generally on the same footing as the latter punishment: thus, any person who might formerly have been sentenced to transportation is now liable to be kept in penal servitude for the same period; and (q) As to recording sentence, v. p. 448. As to mode of execution, v. P. 477. |