asked the Minister for Justice if he will state: (a) the number and nature of cases brought before the Special Criminal Court in respect of offences under the Emergency Powers Acts and Orders made thereunder; (b) the number of convictions in such cases; and (c) the particulars of the sentences imposed in each such case.
Written Answers. - Special Criminal Court.
asked the Minister for Justice if he will give particulars of the cases in which sentences of imprisonment and of pecuniary penalties, imposed by the Special Criminal Court, in respect of offences under the Emergency Powers Acts and Orders made thereunder, were commuted or remitted, in whole or in part; and if he will also state, in each case, the nature of the offence, the sentence imposed and the nature and extent of the remission.
The particulars asked for in questions 81 and 82 are given in the tables below, which cover the period 1939 to date. In compiling these tables, offences under the Emergency Powers Acts and the Orders made thereunder have been divided into three classes, which are shown as Class A, Class B and Class C.
Class A consists of security offences, i.e., offences against the security of the State. Examples of the type of offences included in this group are: unlawful possession of wireless transmitting apparatus, landing or disembarking at a place other than an approved seaport or airport, interference with the military or police, unauthorised possession of military information, etc.
Class B is confined to cases that consist of contraventions of the various Orders concerned with the maintenance of essential supplies and services. Included in this group are offences relating to rationing and price control.
Class C comprises cases of unlawful dealings in gold, foreign currency, watches, etc.
Very frequently—particularly as regards Class B—a large number of individual offences of the same kind (e.g., overcharging) were brought against the same person on the same occasion. In these cases all the charges are dealt with as one charge: if the result on every charge was an acquittal, the case is treated as an acquittal: if there was one conviction the case is included as one conviction with the penalty imposed, the acquittals being ignored: if there were several convictions the case is included as one conviction and the cumulative penalties are added together (ignoring concurrent sentences of imprisonment) and included as one penalty. A couple of examples of actual cases will serve to illustrate the method that has been followed. Thus, where a person was charged on 14 separate counts, acquitted on one count, convicted on the other 13 and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment on each of three counts, six months' imprisonment on each of five counts, and three months' imprisonment on each of two counts, all the sentences of imprisonment to run concurrently, and fined £100 on each of the remaining three counts, the case is included as one conviction with a sentence of imprisonment and fine in Table 1 of the return, as one sentence of nine months' imprisonment in Table 2 and as one fine of £300 in Table 3. Similarly, the case of a person who was charged on 44 counts, acquitted on nine of the charges, convicted on the remaining 35 and sentenced to three years' penal servitude on each of four charges and to various terms of imprisonment, to run concurrently, on the other charges, is included in Table 1 as one conviction with a sentence of imprisonment and in Table 2 as a single sentence of three years' imprisonment.
For simplicity, sentences of penal servitude have not been distinguished by name from sentences of imprisonment. The longest sentence of imprisonment that may be imposed is two years: the shortest sentence of penal servitude is three years. When a sentence of three years, or over, is mentioned, it is consequently to be understood that the sentence was one of penal servitude.
TABLE I.—NUMBER OF PERSONS PROCEEDED AGAINST, CLASSIFICATION OF OFFENCES AND RESULTS OF PROCEEDINGS.
|
Classification of Offence |
NUMBER OF PERSONS |
SENTENCE |
|||||
|
Proceeded against |
Convicted |
Imprisonment only |
Imprisonment & fine |
Fine only |
Probation |
Recognisances |
|
|
A |
42 |
34 |
31 |
1 |
— |
— |
2 |
|
B |
158 |
141 |
35 |
28 |
57 |
12 |
6 |
|
C |
42 |
39 |
1 |
23 |
10 |
— |
5 |
|
TOTAL |
242 |
214 |
67 |
52 |
67 |
12 |
13 |
In three cases no penalty was imposed.
TABLE 2.—LENGTH OF SENTENCE.
|
Classification of Offence |
SENTENCE |
||||||||||
|
Three months |
Four months |
Six months |
Nine months |
Twelve months |
Eighteen months |
Two years |
Three years |
Four years |
Five years |
Seven years |
|
|
A |
2 |
— |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
|
B |
12 |
2 |
23 |
7 |
10 |
6 |
— |
3 |
— |
— |
— |
|
C |
13 |
8 |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
1 |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
|
TOTAL |
27 |
10 |
24 |
9 |
13 |
8 |
7 |
12 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
TABLE 3.—AMOUNT OF FINES.
|
Classification of Offence |
FINE |
||||
|
£50 and under |
Over £50 and up to £200 |
Over £200 and up to £500 |
Over £500 and up to £1,000 |
Over £1,000 and up to £4,500 |
|
|
A |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
|
B |
20 |
30 |
22 |
8 |
5 |
|
C |
10 |
10 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
|
TOTAL |
30 |
41 |
30 |
10 |
8 |
TABLE 4—REMISSIONS OF PENALTIES.
Remissions of penalties were granted in a total of 24 cases—8 in class A, 12 in Class B, and 4 in Class C. The particulars of the remissions in each of these cases are as follows:—
CLASS A.
|
Original Sentence |
Remission Granted |
|
|
7 years. |
2 years |
3 months |
|
5,, |
2,, |
9,, |
|
3,, |
6,, |
|
|
3,, |
9,, |
|
|
2,, |
7,, |
|
|
18 months. |
8,, |
|
|
12,, |
3,, |
|
|
12,, |
3,, |
CLASS B.
|
Original Sentence and/or Fine |
Remission Granted |
|
3 years. |
10 months. |
|
18 months. |
4,, |
|
9 months and £300 fine. |
3 months remitted on payment of additional £300. |
|
6 months and £500 fine with 6 further months in default. |
Term of imprisonment in default reduced by 3 months on payment of £50. |
|
6 months and £300 fine with 3 further months in default. |
Term of imprisonment in default reduced by 6 weeks. |
|
6 months and £200 fine with 2 further months in default. |
Term of imprisonment in default reduced by 5 weeks. |
|
3 months |
6 weeks. |
|
£700. |
£450. |
|
£400 and bound to the peace. |
£200. |
|
£200. |
£50. |
|
£100. |
£50. |
|
£20. |
£10. |
CLASS C.
|
Original Sentence and/or fine |
Remission Granted |
|
3 months and £500 fine. |
2 months of imprisonment and £450 of fine. |
|
£250. |
Fine completely remitted. |
|
£200. |
Fine completely remitted. |
|
£200. |
Fine completely remitted. |