Criminal Justice Acts 2003 and 2008
Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 & 2008, the different community sentences previously available for adults, were replaced by a single Community Order. This act also gave the Courts the ability to choose different Requirements (13 different ones) to make up a bespoke Community Order or Suspended Sentence Order. Additionally, this act gave the Courts new provisions for dangerous offenders. The possible Requirements available to the Courts as a result of this Act are as follows:
(1) Supervision
(2) Unpaid Work
(3) Programme
(4) Activity
(5) Drug Rehabilitation
(6) Alcohol Treatment
(7) Mental Health Treatment
(8) Residence
(9) Exclusion
(10) Prohibited Activity
(11) Foreign Travel ban (added in December 2012)
(12) Curfew
(13) Attendance Centre.
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As a result of the Act, the Court also had to specify the purpose of sentencing. The possible objectives included one or more of the following:
• The punishment of offenders
• The reduction of crime (including its reduction by deterrence)
• The reform and rehabilitation of offenders
• The protection of the public
• Reparation by offenders to persons affected by their offence.
Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012
On the 3rd of December, 2012 the LASPO Act (2012) came into force. In addition to changes in the legal aid system, this Act brings in many new changes.
Generally, the Act aims to clarify and consolidate previous legislation and is said to make it ‘easier’ for practitioners. In this section we will explain a few of the most significant changes this Act brings. These are as follows:
- An Element of Punishment – This Act introduced the premise that all community based Orders need to have some element of punishment. No longer can the Court just consider rehabilitation for the Service User. For example, a stand-alone direction by the Court to see a Probation Officer (Supervision Requirement) to address the offender’s issues has gone.
- Unpaid Work – The Act sets out that the Order is finished when a Requirement is completed (such as Unpaid Work), so long as nothing else is outstanding. For example: Let us assume that someone has been sentenced to a Community Order of 12 months, and 50 hours of Unpaid Work; if this is finished, and presuming there is no other requirement, such as supervision outstanding, then the whole Order is finished. The same applies to all other Requirements.
- Prohibition on Foreign Travel – This Act introduced a new Requirement to prohibit foreign travel for the SU, making such travel a potential breach of a Community based Order imposed by the Court. This has always been the case for people released on license from prison.
- Extended Determinate Sentences – Courts can no longer impose an indeterminate sentence for Public Protection (IPP) or an Extended Sentence for Public Protection (EPP) reasons. Rather, an Extended Determinate Sentence is available for offenders convicted of serious violent or sexual offences whom the Court deem to be ‘dangerous’. An offender who might previously have received an IPP might now be given an EDS or Life sentence. Release on Licence for those on an EDS will depend on the sentence length. Sentences in excess of 10 years will require input from the Parole Board. Following release, offenders will be subject to extended periods of supervision.
If you would like to learn more about the abolishment of IPP sentences (which is not part of the course) you can find out more by downloading the free download document here:
