Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Act 2011
|
Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act. |
3.— Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended— | |
(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1)— | ||
“(1) (a) Where a court, by or before which an offender stands convicted, is of opinion that the appropriate sentence in respect of the offence of which the offender is convicted would, but for this Act, be one of imprisonment for a period of 12 months or less, the court shall, as an alternative to that sentence, consider whether to make an order (in this Act referred to as a ‘community service order’) in respect of the offender and the court may, if satisfied, in relation to the offender, that the provisions of section 4 have been complied with, make a community service order in accordance with this section. | ||
(b) Where a court, by or before which an offender stands convicted, is of opinion that the appropriate sentence in respect of the offence of which the offender is convicted would, but for this Act, be one of imprisonment for a period of more than 12 months and, it is satisfied, in relation to the offender, that the provisions of section 4 have been complied with, the court may make a community service order in accordance with this section.”, | ||
(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (1A) (inserted by section 18 of the Fines Act 2010 ): | ||
“(1B) Where in relation to an offender, the court considers that the offender is a person in respect of whom it may be appropriate to make a community service order, it shall request the Probation Service to prepare a report (in this Act referred to as an ‘assessment report’) in respect of the offender. | ||
(1C) An assessment report shall be prepared and furnished to the court within a period of 28 days from receipt of the request referred to in subsection (1B). | ||
(1D) The court may, of its own motion or upon application to it in that behalf by a probation officer, extend the period within which the assessment report is to be furnished if the court is satisfied that there is good reason for doing so and it would be in the interests of justice so to do.”, | ||
(c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2): | ||
“(2A) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as affecting any power of the court under any rule of law or by or under any enactment to make such orders as the court sees fit providing for an alternative to a sentence of imprisonment in respect of the offender.”, | ||
and | ||
(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3): | ||
“(4) In this section ‘imprisonment’ includes detention in Saint Patrick’s Institution or in a children detention school.”. |