In Scotland when a prisoner is indicted to appear before a jury court he must be served seventeen days before his trial with a copy of the indictment, containing the charge, a list of the productions against him, and a list of the witnesses to be called for the prosecution. Seven days thereafter he is brought before the Court to plead to the charge. If he plead guilty he may be dealt with there and then. If he plead not guilty his plea is recorded and he is sent back till the second diet of the court. If he intend to set up a special defence, such as insanity or an alibi, notice of such defence has to be given at the pleading diet; but the witnesses he intends to call need not be notified to the Crown until three days before the trial by jury. The prosecution cannot add any productions or any witnesses to the list furnished in the indictment; but if it is decided that additional witnesses are required the diet may be deserted and a new indictment served. In no case, however, can a prisoner be kept with a charge hanging over his head for more than one hundred and seventeen days from the date of his committal. After that time he is entitled to be liberated and no further proceedings on the charge can be taken against him at any time.
The Crown usually makes careful enquiries in the public interest when any special plea of insanity is brought forward; and if satisfied that the plea is a valid one, has provided, at the public expense, expert testimony to that effect on behalf of the prisoner. The greatest care has been taken to ensure that prisoners brought before the higher Courts do not suffer from lack of means, and there is never any disposition on the part of the prosecutor to make it a point of honour that he should obtain a conviction. There is no speech by the prosecutor in opening his case. So far as the Court is concerned the jury start without any bias against the prisoner, and as the evidence is led they gain their knowledge of the case. In most cases the prosecutor does not address the jury at all. He contents himself with leading evidence. The character of the prisoner is not disclosed to the jury until after their verdict has been returned. If during the trial any reference is initiated by the prosecution as to previous convictions, the prisoner is entitled to an acquittal upon the charge against him. The point the jury has to determine is whether the person committed the crime charged, and they have to find their verdict simply on the evidence led.
The Scottish jury consists of fifteen men, and the verdict of a majority is required. They may decline on the evidence to express an opinion on the prisoner’s guilt, but instead may find the charge not proven. This is the most practical provision for giving a prisoner the benefit of any doubt that exists in their minds after hearing the evidence. Whatever the verdict may be, the prisoner, having been once tried, cannot again be charged with the same offence. It is difficult to conceive any system under which a prisoner charged with crime could be more fairly treated; and if in the minor Courts offenders received the same consideration, the number sent to prison would be greatly diminished and the ranks of the habitual offender would fail to receive so many recruits.
CHAPTER II
THE PRISON SYSTEM
Centralisation—The constitution of the Prison Commission—Parliamentary control—The Commissioners—The rules—The visiting committee—The governor and the matron—The chaplain—The medical officer—The staff.
Before the year 1877 all the Scottish prisons, with the exception of the Penitentiary at Perth, were under the control and management of the local authorities. One result was that there were many standards of treatment, and Parliament decided that as the prevailing methods were unsatisfactory the treatment of prisoners and the management of prisons should be vested in a central Board.
The changes made by the Prison Commission have been many, and the prison of to-day is widely different from that of forty years ago; but before attributing all improvements to the new system it is fair to take into account the progress made in local administration during that time. The true comparison is not between the prison of forty years ago and that of to-day, but between the prison and the local institutions of to-day. Central management is likely to result in uniformity of routine and treatment in all prisons; but it is questionable whether that is a gain. It may tend to more economical administration if the test is one of expenditure of money, but it makes experiment in the way of reform very difficult. Not only are no two men alike, but no two districts are alike; and methods of dealing with people belonging to one part of Scotland are not necessarily the best to apply to the inhabitants of another part. It is not a good thing to bring prisoners from outlying districts to centres; there is always a danger of their remaining there after their liberation and obtaining introductions that will not be likely to help them except in the way of wrongdoing. The large institution may cost less money, but it can never have such intimate supervision as the small one.