2. Procedures
a. Pleas in mitigation
Upon conviction, the defendant will usually have matters relating to mitigation of sentence brought to the attention of the Court by his Counsel. During the mitigation process, Counsel will indicate to the court the special features of the defendant and/or his case that warrants a sentence reduction, e.g. guilty plea at an early stage of the legal proceedings, good personal background, proportionality of punishment, gravity of the offence, etc.
Counsel may submit relevant case authorities in sentencing and/or other relevant materials to assist the Court in deciding the most suitable sentence for the defendant.
b. Calling for reports
If the Court deems necessary, the mitigation hearing can be adjourned pending the relevant reports. In cases where the court is considering a community service order or probation order as a sentencing option, the probation officer will be asked to submit a suitability report on the respective order. Similarly, if a hospital order is one of the sentencing options, the Court would call for the relevant medical or psychiatric reports.
A defendant might be remanded in custody or granted bail pending the reports. For example, it is possible for the defendant to be granted bail pending the preparation of the suitability report regarding a community service order or a probation order. But for reports like a suitability report for a Detention Order at the Drug Addiction Treatment Centre (DATC report), normally the defendant will be remanded in custody.
c. What is the role of a probation officer?
A probation officer is an officer appointed to investigate, report and supervise the conduct of offenders sentenced to probation. The probation officer would meet the offender and accordingly produce a report to the Court explaining whether or not to recommend that the offender be placed on a probation order or community service order. During the execution of the probation order or community service order, the offender is required to comply with the instructions of the probation officer, failing which the offender would be deemed to have breached the order and may ordered to serve a prison sentence.