The word probation is a form of the Latin word ‘probare’ which means ‘to test or prove’. In the Cambridge dictionary, ‘Probation’, in the legal sense, is described as, a period of time when a criminal must behave well and not commit any more crimes to avoid being sent to prison. A person, who is found guilty of committing a crime is put on probation so that he or she could stay in their community provided they are supervised by a probation officer. It can be called an order of sanction from the court. Probation is not a choice for every other offence. Some offenders nevertheless have to go to prison without the option of probation put on to them.
John Augustus, who is called the ‘Father of Probation’ is the person who introduced the power and ease of the custom of probation of offenders. Augustus was a permanent resident of Boston and also owned a boot-making company during the 1820s. It was under his voluntary leadership an experiment of suspending the sentences of offenders took place for the first time. They were also supervised. As history remarks, the experiment was a successful one.
In 1878 a paid probation officer was appointed by a law passed by Massachusetts (US) which in turn marked the official origin of probation as a separate legal system. By 1917, 21 states in America introduced a probation system in their states. It was in the year 1925 The Federal Court of the United States enacted a law regarding probation. By 1953, 45 states and the Federal Courts in the USA had been provided with some sort of legislation authorising probation release of the offenders.
It was in the year 1887 that the parliament of England passed the Probation of First Offenders Act. Although there was a limitation in the first years that it applied only to first offenders, it was removed in 1907.
France enacted its law regarding probation in 1891.
In India, the Probation of Offenders Act was enacted in the year 1958. It gradually extended to all states except Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Sikkim, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.
Of these six states, the state of Tripura enacted its own Act in the year 1960. Jammu & Kashmir and Karnataka in 1966, while Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have still to enact Probation Acts in their states.
Following are the important features of The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958.
It permits;
(a) probation to all offenders except those who are liable to be given capital punishment for murder, treason, etc. and to dacoits and professionals;
(b) release on probation for a maximum period of three years;
(c) a social investigation by a probation officer; and
(d) revocation or premature termination of probation.
Release on probation is usually based on four factors:
(i) circumstances of the case,
(ii) nature of the crime,
(iii) age of the accused person, and
(iv) character of the accused person.
Before that itself, some provinces were permitted to enact their own laws. Madras and Madhya Pradesh enacted such laws in 1936, Bombay and Uttar Pradesh in 1938, and Bengal in 1954.
However, under the Act of 1958, only those offenses with less than seven years imprisonment and juvenile delinquents were permitted to be released on probation. There was also Section 562 in the Criminal Procedure Code of 1898 and later on in Section 360 of CrPC 1973 which permitted the release of offenders on probation.
There were several limitations to the CrPC 1898. One was that it applied only to juvenile delinquents and first male offenders. The aspect of women offenders was not included. While that is the first limitation, the second and very important one is that only first-class magistrates were authorised to release offenders on probation. The third limitation is that no provision was available for supervision.
At the same time, The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 has a wider scope. It permits the probational release of all offenders irrespective of age and sex. It also permits the supervision of probationers by probation officers. Besides, it has authorised all types of magistrates to release offenders on probation.
Probation is a chance. A chance to correct oneself. A chance to control one’s circumstances and reaction to it. As human beings, we are supposed to provide that chance to all our fellow beings and ourselves. For, who among us has never committed a mistake!
