Magistrates and judges can order people to complete a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement as part of either a Community Order or Suspended Sentence Order.
The Rehabilitation Activity Requirement indicates how many days of activity each individual must complete in order to successfully finish their sentence. There are 13 requirements which the court can make as part of the order:
- supervision by a CRC employee
- a requirement to complete programmes aimed at tackling offending behaviour
- Community Payback
- a victim awareness course
- drug and / or alcohol treatment
- curfew
- a requirement to attend courses
- mental health treatment
- prohibited activity – for example being banned from places such as pubs or football grounds
- exclusion from a specific place
- a requirement to attend a Senior Attendance Centre
- a ban from travelling abroad
- a requirement to access support provided by partner agencies (such as housing, employment, training and education)
The Community Order sets the amount of time that the Rehabilitation Activity Requirement must be completed in. So if an individual is sentenced to a six-month Community Order, their Rehabilitation Activity Requirement must be finished within that period.
The Suspended Sentence Order carries the additional punitive measure that if the offender commits another crime, they are jailed for the length of the suspended element in addition to whatever sentence their fresh crime carries.
If an offender breaks the terms of their sentence, they are either given an official warning or are sent back to court and re-sentenced for their crimes. That could result in either a tougher community sentence or prison.