Update
| Published date | 01 September 1990 |
| Date | 01 September 1990 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059003700301 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
available for a substantially different of-
fence of lower gravity than that for
which the original sentence was
imposed.
Suspended sentences should be
available only at Crown Court for the
small minority of exceptional cases
where the offence is grave but im-
prisonment is inappropriate.
The Probation Service should not
have a role in restricting the liberty of
defendants who primarily have welfare
needs; rather, to provide .access to
UPDATE systems of support different from the
probation role in the supervision of
court disposals.
The probation order is already
A flavour of the responses from
a de facto sentence of the court and it
a number
of organisations to
makes sense to confirm this. CJPP
’Crime, Justice and Protecting
makes little reference to the standard
the Public (CJPP)
probation order yet this remains an im-
portant disposal. It would be logical1:o
ACOP
establish a maximum length of 18
months for Magistrates Court probation
Any proposed legislation should in-
orders and 160 hours for magistrates’
clude a principle of ’minimum
community service orders. The new
necessary intervention’ as a basis for
combined order should be a probation
decisions throughout the CJS. The
order with an extra condition of com-
White Paper’s failure to propose
munity service, so as to avoid possible
outright restrictions on the use of
conflict between different elements of
custody is a serious limitation. Con-
the order.
tinued judicial discretion encourages
The fine should be abolished for
the wasteful and costly use of serious
criminal offences, to be replaced by
disposals for relatively minor offences
orders for compensation to be paid into
or for people with pressing social
a compensation fund. Fines could be
needs.
retained merely for infractions of order
If the fine is to become the
regulations. It is regrettable that the
’presumptive’ penalty, SERs should be
concept of reparation has not been ear-
restricted to cases where some kind of
marked for formal extension.
restriction on liberty is felt necessary.
Central Council of
Though ‘recc~rnmenda~ion’ may be an
Probation Committees
inappropriate term, it should be ex-
plicit that an SER should contain a pro-
‘The most hopeful document by the
bation officer’s commitment to and
government on criminal justice matters
assessment of
the prospects of success
for many years’ but ’the message that
of a community penalty. Courts should
will register with sentencers and the
give reasons for decisions on com-
public is the one that encourages
munity penalties.
tougher punishments’. ’Just deserts’
The power to return a released
’emphasises the urge to give unworthy
prisoner to custody for the...
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