Probation Orders
Probation Orders together with Community Service Orders are the two most commonly used community based sentences used by the courts in Scotland.
A Probation Order aims to engage with the offender by means of a combination of support and control to reduce the risk of re-offending. All orders are required to have a work plan that require the offenders to work with the Supervising Officer to address the attitudes and underlying causes related to their offending behaviour. An order can be made for a minimum of six months up to a maximum of three years.
A Probation Order has the flexibility to allow the court to impose a wide range of conditions and requirement with which to offender is required to comply. These can include
- A requirement to carry out a specified number of hours of unpaid work.
- Attendance at a range of specialist programmes geared to making the offender address their offending behaviour
- Alcohol/drugs related counselling and services
- Residence at a specified address
- Curfew and/or electronic monitoring (Electronic Tagging)
- Payment of compensation to victims
In the reporting year 2007-08 a total of 8,751 Probation Orders were made by Scottish courts. Full statistical information can be found in the Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics Bulletin 2007-08 published in December 2008.