Crime and punishment

by Justice P.H.K. Kulatilaka

Part - 3

Making community based correction orders in terms of the Community Based Correction Act is yet another form of non custodial sentencing which will have the effect of reforming petty offenders.

It empowers the Magistrate to make such orders in lieu of imposing a sentence of imprisonment or a suspended term of imprisonment or fine in respect of offences prescribed therein after considering the nature and gravity of the offence and the circumstances relating to the commission of the offence.

It is interesting to note that in an appropriate case the Magistrate may utilize the power given to him under section 15 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act and in lieu of imposing a jail term order that the offender be detained in the precincts of court until 6 pm. During my tenure of office as the High Court Judge of Kalutara I had the occasion to hear the case of a girl in her early twenties indicted under the Prevention of Terrorism [Temporary Provisions] Act. The accusation was that she had followed few JVP classes. She was an external undergraduate and had already passed her GAQ. She complained to court that she had to undergo untold sufferings after arrest.

In the interest of justice I acted under the aforesaid provisions and detained her in precincts of the court before the rising of the court.

To rehabilitate and bring back to normal life a person convicted of a drug offence who is a drug dependant person the Drug Dependant Persons [Treatment and Rehabilitation] Act enables the Magistrate to commit such person to a Treatment Centre for treatment and rehabilitation instead of imposing a jail term. This is a salutary and innovative piece of legislation.

Our sentencing policy has been to impose sentences so as to vindicate the victim's interests, acknowledge offender's circumstances and accommodate public safety concerns. The responsibility of the judge is to reconcile the aforesaid interests and pronounce the appropriate sentence.

Concluded

The writer is a former Director of the Sri Lanka Judges Institute.