Report No. 78

IV. Problem not Confined to India

1.11. Problem not confined to India.-

The problem of a large number of under-trial prisoners does not seem to be confined to India. In regard to the U.S.A., for example, it has been stated1-

"The negative by products of judicial delay are many. The number of defendants incarcerated and awaiting trial is reaching alarming proportions in many large cities, and detention facilities are dangerously overcrowded. The law Enforcement Assistance Administration National Jail Census in 1970 revealed that 52 per cent. of the jail inmates were awaiting trial. Pre-trial incarceration is costly to the individual, for it denies him income and, in fact may cause him to lose his job. Extended incarceration resulting from judicial delay is also costly to the public, since pre-trial detainees must be fed and supervised."

1. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 1970 National Jail Census, (1971), p. 1, quoted by National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice reproduced by Incairdi and Seigal (Ed.) Crime-Emerging Issues, (1977) pp. 66-67.