Legal basis and amended provision
- Section 1 amends Section 7 of Act No. 3203.
- The amendment rewrites the entire Section 7 rule governing how a minor delinquent may be paroled, allowed to stay elsewhere, or returned to the court.
Covered persons and custody setting
- Section 7 applies to any minor delinquent committed to an institution under Sections 3 and 5 of Act No. 3203.
- Section 7 also applies to any minor delinquent allowed to stay elsewhere rather than within the institutions contemplated in Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 3203.
Parole by the institution head
- A minor delinquent committed to an institution under Sections 3 and 5 of Act No. 3203, or allowed to stay elsewhere, may be paroled by the head of the institution.
- Parole is granted under conditions prescribed by the head of the institution.
- Parole is effective subject to the approval of the Public Welfare Commissioner.
Return to court: sentence or dismissal
- A minor delinquent may be returned to the court for either sentence or dismissal.
- When the minor is returned to the court, the court renders a final judgment of either sentence or dismissal.
Probation period for those allowed to stay elsewhere
- For a minor delinquent allowed to stay at a place other than the institutions mentioned in Sections 1 and 2 of Act No. 3203, the probation period “shall rest with the probation officer.”
- At the termination of that probation period, the probation officer must return the minor to the court for either sentence or dismissal.
Court final judgment standard
- In every case where the minor delinquent is returned to the court for either sentence or dismissal, the court shall render the final judgment based on the opinion of the court considering:
- the records of the minor during confinement in the institution to which the minor was committed, or
- the records of the minor during the probation period.
- The court’s determination must also reflect that the recommendation of the Public Welfare Commissioner justifies the final judgment.