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Andhe further suggested:
Very often in the type of offences dealt with under this Bill a short custodial
sentence of seven days to one month will be in the mind of the Court (Senate
Debates, vol. 101, col. 852, 7 th July, 1983).
It is quite clear from this contribution by an influential lawyer in the Senate, the target of
community service was the soft end of offender categories for offences invariably dealt
with bythe District Court andexercisedwithin that limitedjurisdiction.
The Legislation
The legislation which gave effect to community service in Ireland, namely the Criminal
Justice (Community Service) Act 1983, was almost an exact replica of the Criminal Justice
Act 1972 which gave effect to community service in England and Wales.
Notwithstanding the similarity between the two pieces of legislation, the Department of
Justice, the sponsoring Department for the legislation, had the benefit of critical analyses
done by the Home Office Research Unit and Young (1979) and the critical question
relating to the tariff position of the penalty of Community Service was addressed and to
some extent resolvedin the Irish legislation under Section 2 which provided:
This Act applies to a person (in this Act referred to as an offender) who is of or over
the age of sixteen years and is convicted of an offence for which, in the opinion of
the Court, the appropriate sentence would but for this Act be one of penal servitude,
of imprisonment or of detention in St. Patrick’s Institution, but does not apply
where anysuch sentence is fixedbylaw.
Section 3 provided:
Section 3 (1) Subject to Section 4, the Court by or before which an offender is
convicted may, instead of dealing with him in anyother way, make, in respect of the
offence of which he is convicted, an order (in this Act referred to as “Community
service order”) under this Section.
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