Chapter 2 : Community Sentences for offenders aged 16 or over
Section 177: Community orders
498.Subsection (1) provides that a community order may impose on the offender one or more of the following requirements:
an unpaid work requirement;
an activity requirement;
a programme requirement;
a prohibited activity requirement;
a curfew requirement;
an exclusion requirement;
a residence requirement;
a mental health treatment requirement;
a drug rehabilitation requirement;
an alcohol treatment requirement;
a supervision requirement;
if an offender is under 25, an attendance centre requirement.
499.Certain of the requirements are subject to restrictions, identified in subsection (2). Subsection (3) provides that if the court makes a community order that includes a curfew requirement or an exclusion requirement, it must also impose an electronic monitoring requirement (as defined in Section 215) unless electronic monitoring is not available in the local area or if someone else whose consent is required (e.g. a landlord) withholds that consent. The court may also decide electronic monitoring is inappropriate in the particular case. Subject to the same provisos, under subsection (4), the court may impose electronic monitoring in conjunction with any of the other requirements listed above. Subsection (5) states that community orders cannot exceed three years in length, and the court can specify the duration of requirements within a community order. Subsection (6) requires the court to consider the compatibility of the various requirements it proposes to include.
Section 178: Power to provide for court review of community orders
500.This section enables the Secretary of State to make an order allowing or requiring a court to review the progress of an offender under a community order. The Secretary of State can also allow a court to attach or remove a review provision from a community order, and regulate the timing of reviews. Such an order may in particular contain provisions similar to those applying to reviews of suspended sentences, as provided in sections 191 and 192. It is intended that the decision to extend reviews to community orders would be based on consultation with the courts.
Section 179: Breach, revocation or amendment of community order
501.This section introduces Schedule 8 which sets out procedures relating to the enforcement, revocation or amendment of community orders.
Section 180: Transfer of community orders to Scotland or Northern Ireland
502.This section introduces Schedule 9 which sets out the procedures for community sentences transferred to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
