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c) That under this Act the District Court may review the order on the
application of either the offender or a relevant officer.
The specific provision under Section 2 allows for no doubt as to the function of
community service as an alternative to custody only. It is not permissible for a Court to
impose community service except in lieu of a custodial sentence which would have been
imposed except for the possibility of imposing a community service order otherwise. By
contrast the provision in the English legislation allowed for a wider application of
community service orders provided only the offence was an “imprisonable offence”. A
second point of contrast between the Irish and English legislation concerns the minimum
age of an offender who might be given a communityservice order. Section 2 specifies the
minimum age of sixteen years and refers to places of detention, i.e. St Patrick’s Institution.
The minimum age for committal to such institution is sixteen years. Section 3 mimics the
English legislation in every respect. 33 Specifically the section allows a court to make what
might be termed ancillary orders in addition to the penalty of community service such as
disqualifications for drunk-driving or endorsement of a driving licence in addition to a
communityservice order.
The procedure for breach of any requirements of a community service order is set out in
Section 7 and 8 of the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Act 1983 34 . The standard
33 As previouslynotedthe English Criminal Justice Act 1972 providedfor an extension of the scope of their legislation to 16 year olds but
limitedthe number of hours to 120 for that age group.
34 Section 7-
1. An offender in respect of whoma communityservice order is in force shall –
a)
b)
Report to a relevant officer as directed from time to time byor on behalf of the officer referred to in Section 6(2) or 10(2), or byor on behalf of
an officer dischargingfunctions previouslydischargedbythat officer,
Perform satisfactorily for the number of hours specified in the order such work at such times as he may be directed by or on behalf of the
relevant officer to whom he is required to report under this Subsection or by or on behalf of an officer discharging functions previously
dischargedbythat officer and
c) Notifythe officer to who he is requiredto report under this section of anychange of address.
2.
3.
Subject to Section 9, the work to be performed under a communityservice order shall be performed in the period of one year beginning on the
date of the order but, unless revoked, the order shall remain n force until the offender has worked under it for the number of hours specified in
it.
Directions given under subsections 1(b) shall, so far as practicable, avoidanyinterference with the times the offender normallyworks or attends
a school or other educational or trainingestablishment.
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