Criminal Justice Act

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (alongside the Sexual Offences Act and the Courts Act) is delivery of the Government’s Criminal Justice reforms promised in the White Paper Justice for All published in 2002.

The Act made major changes to the existing custodial and non custodial sentences and had significant impact upon the work of the Probation and Prison Services.  The Act introduced a number of new concepts.

The Act created a new single Community Sentence called the Community Order for offences committed on or after 4 April 2005.  This new Order replaced all existing Community Orders.  The Order gave Courts much greater flexibility in sentencing allowing them to give more appropriate sentences tailored to each individual offender. 

Judges and Magistrates will be able to give a Community Order with one or more Requirements depending on the seriousness of the offence and the potential for risk of harm and reoffending that the offender poses.  Low seriousness and low risk offenders may be sentenced to a Community Order with just one requirement, high seriousness and high risk offenders three or more requirements.  The twelve requirements that are available under the Act are:

• Activity
• Alcohol treatment
• Attendance Centre (if the offender is under 25)
• Curfew
• Drug rehabilitation
• Exclusion
• Mental health treatment
• Prohibited activity
• Programme (accredited)
• Residence
• Supervision
• Unpaid work (between 40 and 300 hours)
  
  Of these requirements the Probation service in Cumbria currently delivers 4 requirements themselves.  These are:
  
  
• Drug rehabilitation
• Programme (accredited)
• Supervision
• Unpaid work

The other requirements are currently provided by partner organisations or are not currently available in Cumbria.  The Requirements are also available to the Suspended Sentence Order (custody minus) which is a custodial sentence.

A new framework for custodial sentences of less than 12 months is also introduced.  Custody Plus (when introduced) will replace the current custodial sentence of less than 12 months.  All offenders who are released from prison will have a period of supervision in the community.