the month begins to be counted from the time when the prisoner was actually under imprisonment pending his trial, or whether it begins to be counted from the time when the judgment was read out to him or from the time when the judgment became unappealable: and so on. The question becomes still more complicated if there is an appeal. It then becomes a question of equally absorbing interest to the prisoner to know whether the imprisonment undergone pending the appeal is to be counted and, if so, for how much: whether it is counted for more or for less if the appeal was by the prisoner himself, or was by the Crown Prosecutor: whether it is counted for more or for less if the appeal was won or was lost: and so on.
The French Penal Code[1] contains most elaborate provisions in regard to these questions, leaving to the Judge little else but mechanical work to do, — a fact which may be regarded as another instance of the reflection of the spirit of the period following the French Revolution. But the provisions of the new Japanese Penal Code[2] and other modern Penal Codes in regard to these questions display a tendency to simplify the matter as much as possible. In consonance with this tendency, the system adopted in the new Penal Code of Siam is exceedingly simple. It is as follows: — A month does not mean a calendar month but means thirty days. The first day of imprisonment counts in full, but the last day, i. e., the day of liberation does not count at all.[3] So far there is not much difference between the Siamese system and any other system, but now comes the simplicity of the Siamese system, namely: — Imprisonment undergone pending trial or appeal counts in full, except when provided otherwise by the judgment.[4] This disposes of nearly a dozen questions suggested above, by one stroke. It may not be in strict conformity with the hard theory of the law, that one who is detained in jail pending his trial or appeal, but not as a convict, should have the time so spent count upon his final sentence. Nevertheless, it is an exceedingly simple, practical and humane system, and what is best of all, it is the system that has been actually in use in Siam.
