Community Service
Community service is a general sanction included in the Penal Code and may be passed on certain preconditions instead of an unconditional prison sentence not exceeding eight months. Depending on the length of the prison sentence, community service varies from 20 to 200 hours. Community service can also be imposed as a supplementary sanction to a conditional sentence exceeding 12 months in which case the maximum length is 90 hours.
Community service may be sentenced if:
- the sentence for the offence is less than eight months of unconditional imprisonment,
- the accused consents to community service, and
- the accused is assumed to be capable of carrying out the service.
Previous community service sentences or unconditional prison sentences may prevent the passing of a new community service.
At the request of the prosecutor, the Probation Service prepares a suitability assessment on the capacity of the accused offender to carry out the community service. The service is non-profit work carried out according to a service plan. Breaching the service plan conditions will lead to a sanction.
In the past few years, approximately 35% of unconditional prison sentences not exceeding eight months have been converted into community service. The annual number of enforced community service sentences is around 3600-3700 of which more than 80% are completed. The most common offence resulting in community service is aggravated drunken driving; it is the principal offence of over half of all community service clients.
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Community Service
