Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977)Chapter 28 : Sentence296. Committal to treatment centre |
| (1) | A court convicting any person of any offence may, in addition to or in lieu of any sentence in respect of such offence, order that the person be detained at a treatment centre established under the Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act, 1992, if the court is satisfied from the evidence or from any other information placed before it, which shall in either of the said cases include the report of a probation officer, that such person is a person as is described in section 21(1) of the said Act, and such order shall for the purposes of the said Act be deemed to have been made under section 22 thereof: Provided that such order shall not be made in addition to any sentence of imprisonment (whether direct or as an alternative to a fine) unless the operation of the whole of such sentence is suspended. |
| (2) |
| (a) | Where a court has referred a person to a treatment centre under subsection (1) and such person is later found not to be fit for treatment in such treatment centre, such person may be dealt with mutatis mutandis in accordance with the provisions of section 276A(4). |
| (b) | For the purposes of the provisions of paragraph (a) the expression "a probation officer or the Commissioner" in section 276A(4) shall be construed as the person at the head of the rehabilitation centre or a person authorised by him. |
[Section 296 substituted by section 51 of Act No. 20 of 1992]