Community payback orders

The Scottish Government has changed the law on community based sentences in Scotland to make them tougher and more effective.

The result of the change is the Community Payback Order, which can be used in Courts for offences committed on or after 1st February 2012. The Community Payback Order replaces Community Service Orders, Probation Orders and Supervised Attendance Orders. It enables Courts to impose one or more of a range of requirements on the offender.

These requirements are:

• Unpaid work or other activity
• Offender supervision
• Undertake programme to address offending behaviour
• Conduct (where the Courts specify the offender to do or not do something)
• Compensation
• Mental health treatment
• Participate in drug treatment
• Participate in alcohol treatment
• Residence - to reside at a particular address