Community Service

The Judge of Prosecutor can impose a community

service sentence

By performing a community service an

offender can pay back to society

There are two kinds of

community services:

Working in group projects, whereby the

offender is supervised by a work master from the

Probation Service

Or working for an external

organisation

In both cases the offender will work for the general benefit of

society

For instance doing the dishes in a kitchen of a nursing home

Or working in a second hand shop

Or cleaning parks and neighbourhoods

A community sentence lasts maximally 240

hours

The probation Service decides what work the

offender should do

The offender is obliged to fullfill the

work properly

If he doesn't, he can still go

to prison

The community service can be imposed

for many offences, but

not for serious acts of violence or sexual offences

A major advantage is that community sentences prevent damage caused by prison detention

(loss of home, relationship and job)

because the offender can still participate in

the community

In addition offenders get used to work routine and gain work experience

This reduces the chance of re-offending considerably; much more than after a prison sentence

This is how the Probation Service contributes to a safer society