Habitual Offenders Acts

India

The Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 was amended a number of times. After Independence, the leaders and social reformers paid attention to this problem. In 1949, the Central government appointed a committee to study the utility of the existence of this law. The committee viewed that the act was against the spirit of the Indian Constitution. It recommended suitable steps to be taken for amelioration of the pitiable conditions of the Criminal Tribes rather than stigmatising them as criminals. As a result, the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 was repealed in 1952 and the Habitual Offenders Act was enacted in its place. According to the Habitual Offenders Act, an habitual offender is one who has been a victim of subjective and objective influences and has manifested a set practice in crime, and also presents a danger to society in which she/he lives. The Habitual Offenders are usually hardened criminals whose major part of life has been spent in jails. It is because they commit offences at frequent intervals and are sent back to jail.

Canada

Canadian Law;This was a law intended to imprison for an indeterminate length of time, a criminal who's life style was supported entirely by the proceeds of crime. It was usually used to imprison drug addicts who's criminal history although extensive, was mostly minor in severity. It was abolished in the sixties as being cruel and unusual punishment.