Probation of Offenders Rules

These Rules may be cited as the Probation of Offenders Rules.

The duties of the Chief Probation Officer shall be as follows: (a)to be responsible to the Minister, or such other person as the Minister may from time to time appoint, for the administration of the probation service; (b)to assign probation officers, in accordance with the direction of a court, to prepare pre-sentence reports according to the guidelines set out in Form P.O. 1 in the Schedule on any person found guilty of an offence; (c)to maintain a register of all volunteer probation officers appointed under section 3(2) of the Act; (d)to maintain case-records and statistics of the work undertaken by probation officers; (e)to submit in the month of January of each year to the Minister a return of the persons dealt with during the preceding year; and (f)to perform such other duties as may be required to be performed by him under the Act, or by the Minister or other person appointed by the Minister.

The Probation Committee shall consist of the following persons: (a)a representative of the Chief Justice, who shall be the Presiding Judge of the State Courts unless any other representative is appointed by the Chief Justice;

There shall be male and female members in the Probation Committee.

The Chief Probation Officer shall act as secretary to the Probation Committee.

The Probation Committee shall appoint one of its members to act as chairman.

If the chairman is absent from any meeting of the Probation Committee at the time appointed for the holding of the meeting, the members present shall elect one of their members to act as chairman at the meeting.

Subject to these Rules, the Probation Committee shall meet at such times and place and shall make such arrangements as to the transaction and management of its business as it thinks proper.

No business shall be transacted at any such meeting unless two or more members of the Probation Committee are present.

Every question at a meeting of the Probation Committee shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on that question.

In the event of an equality of votes, the chairman shall have a casting vote.

The proceedings of the Probation Committee shall not be invalidated by reason of any vacancy or vacancies amongst its members or any defect in the mode of appointment of any of its members.

The Probation Committee shall appoint from among its members one or more case committees to deal with persons placed on probation.

The Chief Probation Officer shall act as convenor of the case committee or committees.

A case committee shall —

Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of these Rules any report by a volunteer probation officer may be presented to the case committee or to the court by a probation officer on behalf of the volunteer probation officer who submitted the report.

A case committee shall be required to furnish an annual report to the Probation Committee.

A probation officer shall, in accordance with the directions of a court, prepare a pre-sentence report according to the guidelines set out in Form P.O. 1 in the Schedule on any person found guilty of an offence.

Where a court requires a pre-sentence report to be accompanied by a medical, psychiatric or psychological report on the person to whom the pre-sentence report relates, the probation officer shall obtain the medical, psychiatric or psychological report and forward it to the court with the pre-sentence report.

In the preparation of pre-sentence reports the probation officer shall have access to and take due note of the contents of any medical, psychiatric or psychological report.

Subject to the provisions in the probation order, a probation officer or volunteer probation officer who undertakes the supervision of any probationer shall —

A probation officer or volunteer probation officer shall maintain case-records on each case placed under his supervision and shall make entries of each case without delay.

Case-records of probationers shall be filed at the office of the Chief Probation Officer.

A probation officer or volunteer probation officer shall not wear any uniform or badge distinctive of his office.

The forms to be used under the Act shall be in the form set out in Forms P.O. 1 to P.O. 8 in the Schedule.