DISPOSALS FOR ADULTS
18. This section of the paper provides details
of the non-custodial penalties which are currently available.
Breakdowns showing the number of offenders sentenced by sex, type
of offence and type of sentence for the various disposals are
set out in the Annex B. [2]
Community penalties:
Probation Order
19. Section 2 of the Powers of the Criminal
Courts Act 1973 enables a court to impose a probation order on
an offender, requiring him to be under the supervision of the
probation service for a period of not less than six months and
not more than three years. Probation orders may have additional
requirements attached (eg to reside at a probation hostel). The
statutory purpose of a probation order is to secure the rehabilitation
of the offender (eg by taking action to deal with the causes of
offending behaviour), to protect the public (eg by confronting
the offender with the effect of his crime on the victim) and to
prevent the offender from committing further offences (eg education
and training).
20. In 1996 41,400 probation orders were
imposed on male offenders and 9,500 were imposed on female offenders.
The average cost of a probation order is £2,450.
Community Service Order
21. Section 14 of the 1973 Act enables a
court to impose a community service order on an offender convicted
of an imprisonable offence. A community service order requires
the offender to perform unpaid work for between 40 and 240 hours
within one year of conviction at a minimum rate of five hours
per week. It aims to re-integrate the offender into the community
through positive and demanding unpaid work, performed under supervision.
Work placements are arranged locally by the probation service
in accordance with National Standards. They may include work to
safeguard the community against further crime; the repair of damage
caused by crime; helping the elderly or disabled; or work to improve
the appearance or amenities of a neighbourhood.
22. In 1996, 42,200 community service orders
were imposed on males and 3,700 on females. the average cost of
an order is £1,250.
Combination Order
23. Section 11 of the 1991 Act enables a
court to impose an order which combines probation and communiy
service elements in one order on an offender who has been convicted
of an imprisonable offence. The probation element may be of one
to three years' duration: the community service element of between
40 and 100 hours.
24. Combination orders were imposed on 15,800
male offenders and 1,500 female offenders in 1996. The average
cost of a combination order is £3,400.
Curfew Order
25. Under sections 12 and 13 of the 1991
Act (as amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994)
a court may impose a curfew order, backed by electronic monitoring,
on an offender, provided the Secretary of State has given the
court authority to do so. Courts may impose an order, lasting
up to six months, which imposes a curfew for between two and 12
hours a day, requiring an offender to remain at a specified place,
or places, at times set by the court.
26. Trials of electronic monitoring began
in Reading, Manchester and Norfolk in July 1995 and were extended
to cover Greater Manchester and the courts of Berkshire in November
1995. The trials are now being progressively extended to West
Yorkshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and the London Boroughs covered
by the Middlesex Probation Service.
27. All curfew orders are monitored electronically
by private sector contractors through a radio transmitter tagged
to an offender's ankle or wrist: this sends signals to a home
receiver which is connected to a control centre through a domestic
telephone line. The offender must remain within range of the receiver
during curfew hours. 375 curfew orders were made during the second
year of the trials.
28. The Home Office set enforcement rules
which form part of the contract and contractors have no discretion
on when to return an offender to court. Breach action is taken
immediately if the offender causes serious intentional damage
to the equipment, or threatens the contractor's staff or the offender
is absent for all of the curfew periods set for a day. Where an
offender is absent for more than two hours in any 24 hour period
or causes minor deliberate damage to the equipment, he will be
given a maximum of two warnings, in line with National Standards,
before breach action is taken; or if the offender accumulates
absences of more than two hours in a calendar month or a total
of three hours during the duration of the sentence he will be
given a maximum of two warnings before breach action is taken.
There is provision in the rules for absences in exceptional circumstances,
such as a medical emergency, and absences which need not count
as a violation of the order, such as a job interview; these are
specified in the contract.
Attendance Centre Order
29. A court has the power to make an attendance
centre order in the case of any offender under 21 years of age,
who has been convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment
or who has failed to comply with any of the requirements of a
probation order where the court has been notified that an attendance
centre is available. The aims of the order are to impose a loss
of leisure and to encourage the offender, in a disciplined environment,
to make more constructive use of his leisure time. The attendance
centre must be specified in the order and be reasonably accessible
to the offender, having regard to his age, means of access available
to him and any other circumstances. The number of hours specified
in the order should not be less than 12 and not more than that
unless the court is of the opinion that this would be inadequate,
in which case the order may not exceed 36 hours. The times at
which an offender is required to attend the centre should be such
as to avoid, as far as possible, interference with school or working
hours and offenders should not be required to attend for more
than three hours on one occasion nor on more than one occasion
in a day. Centres are normally open for two or three hours every
other Saturday.
30. There were about 7,000 male and 500
female offenders given attendance centre orders in 1996 at a unit
cost of £210.
National Standards
31. When a court imposes a community penalty
placing an offender under the supervision of the probation service
or social services, they must supervise the offender in accordance
with the 1995 National Standards for the Supervision of Offenders
in the Community; this provides a framework for good practice.
Financial penalties
Fines
32. In general terms where the Crown Court
may impose a fine there is no limit. The statutory maximum
fine on summary conviction for an offence triable either way is
£5,000. Maximum fines for summary offences are expressed
in terms of levels on a standard scale, the monetary value of
which may be increased by order. The present scale is:
level 1 £200
level 2 £500
level 3 £1,000
level 4 £2,500
level 5 £5,000
Within the statutory limits the court will determine
the fine, taking account of the seriousness of the offence, all
the circumstances of the offence including any aggravating and
mitigating factors, relevant precedents and the ability of the
offender to pay. The court may order payment forthwith, allow
time to pay (eg within 28 days) or make an order for payment by
instalment.
. Fines imposed both by the Crown Court
and the magistrates' courts are enforced in the magistrates' courts.
A variety of enforcement methods are available to the court. These
are set out at Annex A.
34. Although fines remain the most common
form of disposal used by the courts, their use declined sharply
between 1986 and 1996 (see Table 1 below). This fall has been
even greater for juveniles (14-17 year olds) than it has been
for adults. 860,800 males and 212,300 females were fined by the
courts in 1996. The average fine was £140 in the magistrates'
courts and £400 in the Crown Court.
Table 1
TOTAL NUMBER OF OFFENDERS FINED FOR ALL OFFENCES
| Year | Number of offenders fined
|
| 1986 | 1,598,100
|
1987
| 1,249,800
|
1988
| 1,248,300
|
1989
| 1,227,800
|
1990
| 1,192,700
|
1991
| 1,166,600
|
1992
| 1,183,800
|
1993
| 1,091,500
|
1994
| 1,055,200
|
1995
| 996,700
|
1996
| 1,073,000
|
Compensation Order
35. The courts may make an order for payment
of compensation for personal injury, loss or damage, or for funeral
expenses arising from the offence or offences taken into account.
These are enforced in the same way as a fine. Magistrates courts'
powers in respect of compensation are restricted (£5,000).
This does not apply to the Crown Court, although both courts must
have regard to the offender's ability to pay when making an order.
Payment of a compensation order takes precedence over any fine
which is also imposed for the offence. In 1996 there were 89,100
compensation orders made by magistrates courts and 5,700 made
by the Crown Court. The average amount of compensation which they
ordered to be paid was £160 and £1,070 respectively.
Confiscation Order
36. Legislation in the Consolidated Drug
Trafficking Act 1994 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 1995 permits
magistrates courts and the Crown Court to make confiscation orders
where an offender has benefited financially from drug trafficking
offfences and some other specified crimes. The confiscation order
is in addition to any other sentence, and frequently accompanies
a sentence of imprisonment. The majority of these orders are made
by the Crown Court but all are enforced by magistrates courts
as if they were a fine. If the offender defaults on payment of
the confiscation order, he may be committed to prison but this
does not expunge the debt.
Other financial penalties
37. The courts may also make orders as to
costs and legal aid contributions.
Other disposals
Binding over
38. Binding over powers derive from the
common law and the Justices of the Peace Act 1362. The police
may arrest without warrant where a "breach of the peace"
has been committed or is reasonably apprehended. Magistrates may
bind a person over to keep the peace and/or be of good behaviour.
The court will order the person being bound over to enter into
a recognizance for a stipulated sum and for a stipulated time.
When binding over, magistrates must be satisfied that there is
a risk of breach of the peace unless action is taken to prevent
it and must explain their reasons for their intention to bind
over, allowing the defendant to make representations. Before fixing
the recognizance they should enquire as to the defendant's means
and they must obtain the defendant's consent to being bound over.
If the defendant does not give his consent the court may commit
him to prison for up to six months. There were approximately 38,600
binding over orders imposed during 1996.
Discharges
39. Where a court is satisfied, having regard
to the nature of the offence and the character of the offender,
that it is inexpedient to inflict punishment and where the sentence
for the offence is not fixed by law, it may order an absolute
or conditional discharge (Section 1A of the Powers of Crimnal
Courts Act 1973 as added by the Criminal Justice Act 1991). If
an absolute discharge is awarded, no further action is taken against
the offender. The period of the conditional discharge cannot exceed
three years and must be specified by the court. If the offender
commits another offence during the period of the conditional discharge
he will be liable to be sentenced for the original offence. In
1996, 99,700 male and 25,000 female offenders were absolutely
or conditionally discharged.
Suspended sentences
40. A suspended sentence is a custodial
penalty, but one which does not result in the offender's imprisonment.
When imprisonment for not more than two years would be an appropriate
immediate sentence but there are exceptional circumstances to
the case, the courts may suspend the sentence for between one
and two years by virtue of section 22 of the Powers of Criminal
Courts Act 1973 (as amended). If the offender commits another
offence which is punishable by imprisonment during the period
of the suspended sentence it may be put into effect. At the time
of passing a suspended sentence the court must also consider whether,
in the circumstances of the case, it would also be appropriate
to impose a fine or make a compensation order. A suspended sentence
was passed on 2,700 male offenders and 600 female offenders in
1996.
Driving disqualification
41. The Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988
allows courts to disqualify offenders convicted of driving offences
from holding or obtaining a driving licence. This provison was
used in 149,506 cases in 1995. However, the Crime (Sentences)
Act 1997 contains provisions to allow the courts to impose a driving
disqualification on an offender in addition to, or instead of,
dealing with him in any other way, regardless of the offence.
The disqualification can be for any period which the court thinks
fit. These provisions are being piloted in Norfolk and Greater
Manchester from January 1998.
Ancillary orders
42. There are a range of other orders available
to the courts when passing sentence. They do not stand alone but
may be made at the same time as other sentences are passed for
the same offence. The most commonly used ones are:
-forfeiture
Where property has been lawfully seized from
an offender or where he possessed it when apprehended for the
offence and the property was used (or intended for use) in committing
an offence the court can make an order depriving him of his rights
in the property. Similarly, this can apply to property when one
of the offences considered by the courts consists of unlawful
possession of that property. In 1996 this power was used on 20,494
occasions in the magistrates' courts and 9,634 times in the Crown
Courts.
-restitution
Where goods have been stolen, obtained by deception
or blackmail, where an offence relating to theft has been taken
into account by the court or where the court considers that there
is sufficient evidence provided before them, an order for restitution
of goods may be made. This may involve, for example, the goods
being restored to the rightful owner or the payment of money or
goods representing the proceeds of disposal of stolen goods. A
total of 621 restitution orders were made in 1996.
-others
Courts can also endorse driving licences for
motoring offences (651,771 endorsements made in 1995) and recommend
deportation in the circumstances described in the Immigration
Act 1971 (307 recommendations made in 1996).
2 a Not printed see Criminal statistics England and
Wales 1996. Cm 3764, Tables 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.6, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10
and 7.11. Back
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