What are Community Orders?

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Community Orders are derived from a community-based sentencing regime that is intended to differentiate low-risk offenders from hardcore offenders.

One of the objectives of Community Orders is to not subject low-risk offenders into the harsh climate of the prisons, which could have the negative and unintended effect of hardening low-risk offenders into hardcore repeat offenders.

Examples of Community Orders include the following:

• Mandatory Treatment Order
  This targets non-habitual offenders who, as a result of suffering from certain mental or psychiatric conditions, committed a criminal offence in question. Instead of serving jail time, they will be directed to undergo psychiatric treatment for up to 36 months.

• Day Reporting Order
  A community sentence that is given in lieu of a fine or jail sentence. The conviction is considered ‘spent’ when the community sentence is fully served out.

• Community Work Order / Community Service Order
  A community-focused sentence where the offender is typically sentenced to do unpaid community service, as a way to make amends.

• Short Detention Order
  A prison sentence where the offender is ordered to spend up to 14 days in prison. This is intended to give the offender a stark taste of prison life, so as to deter them from offending further and in the future.