ABSTRACT

Probation round the world has its origins in two distinct traditions, common and civil (or statute) law. Though these traditions have converged in the post-World War Two period and have little explanatory power today, traces of them are periodically discernible in probation’s literature and discourse. Hence, in this field certainly but doubtless also as a general principle, an historical perspective is necessary if the present is to be even imperfectly comprehended.