Community Service as an Alternative to the Prison Sentence in the Netherlands (From Community Community Service as an Alternative to Prison Sentence Prison Sentence P 115-123, 1987 -- See NCJ-106907)

• NCJ Number: 106913
• Author(s): J P Tak
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Description
• Language: English
• Country: West Germany (Former)

Annotation

This paper describes features of a bill currently before the Dutch Parliament that delineates the aims, character, and implementation of the community service order.

Abstract

The bill was drafted after a period of experimentation with the community service order. The bill's primary aim is to reduce the number of short-term prison sentences. Community service may be imposed when the judge may have otherwise imposed a prison sentence of up to 6 months or a partly suspended prison sentence of which the unsuspended part would not have exceeded 6 months imprisonment. The regulations require the sentencing judge to indicate what prison sentence would have otherwise been imposed. The community service order must designate the number of hours of unpaid labor, the period within which the work is to be done, the organization for whose benefit the work will be done, and the nature of the work. The prosecutor is responsible for seeing that the order is fulfilled. Although the community service order will only apply to adult offenders, the sanction is being applied experimentally with juveniles.