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Crime, justice and the law

Crime justice and the law

Community sentencing

Community sentences are a demanding punishment and include several different requirements that focus on helping rehabilitate the offender and stop them from committing more crime. They are flexible, so that each sentence is designed to address the particular offender and the causes of their offending behaviour.

The purpose of community sentencing

Community sentences have three important functions:

  • they punish offenders for their crimes with hard work and tough curfews that take away free time
  • they benefit society by making offenders do hard work in the community for no pay, to 'pay back' for the damage they have caused
  • they play a role in stopping offenders committing more crimes by identifying why a person commits crimes and providing programmes and treatments to stop it happening again

Community sentences are able to both punish and reform offenders because they have 12 possible requirements. The judge or magistrates choose a combination of requirements for each offender which is intended to punish them and give them an opportunity to change.

The 12 requirements of a community sentence

The judge or magistrates consider what the offender has done, why they did it and how likely they are to commit another crime. They then decide on the number and type of requirements the offender gets.

The 12 requirements are:

  • Community Payback - anything between 40 and 300 hours of unpaid work, for the benefit of the community
  • a compulsory activity - such as attending a drug centre, or completing an education or basic skills course
  • a programme to address particular behaviour - such as violence, drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence or drink-driving
  • a prohibited activity - a ban on an activity such as going to a pub or attending a football match
  • a curfew - monitored by an electronic tag
  • exclusion - a ban from entering a particular place for up to two years
  • residence - having to live at a specified place, such as a probation hostel or private address
  • mental health treatment
  • drug rehabilitation
  • alcohol treatment
  • supervision - attending regular appointments with a probation officer to work on changing attitudes and behaviour
  • going to an Attendance Centre - where 18-24-year-olds can address their offending behaviour

What happens when offenders break the rules

If an offender break the rules of their community order, they are sent back to court and given a bigger penalty. In some cases, this will mean being re-sentenced and sent to prison.

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