Functions of the Department

The functions of the Department include, (a) in respect of community orders, compiling reports for the consideration of the courts at the pre-sentencing or post-sentencing stage showing, (i) the results of an interview with the (ii) where the offender is a juvenile, the results of an interview with the parents of the juvenile, and, where appropriate and reasonable, the results of an interview with members of the juvenile’s extended family; (iii) the results of an interview with the victim of the criminal offence, where applicable and reasonable; (Alternative Sentences) 9 (iv) such information as is applicable to the case, including where applicable, (aa) the age, maturity, character, behaviour and attitude of the offender and his willingness to make amends and serve a community sentence; (bb) any plans or proposals put forward by the offender to change his conduct or to participate in activities or undertake measures to improve himself; (cc) the history of previous findings of guilt under this Act or any other law, the history of community or other sentences given to the offender in respect of those findings, and the response of the offender to such previous and to any community sentences undergone by him; (dd) the availability and appropriateness of community services and facilities and the willingness of the offender to avail himself of those services or facilities; (ee) where the offender is a juvenile, the relationship between the juvenile and the juvenile’s parents and the degree of control and influence of the parents over the juvenile, and where appropriate and reasonably possible, the relationship between the juvenile 10 (Alternative Sentences) and the juvenile’s extended family, school authorities, employer, church authorities and the local community; (ff) where appropriate and applicable, the school attendance and performance record or the employment record, of the offender; (gg) the earning capacity of the offender, where the offender is a father in default of maintenance payments to his child; (hh) such other information as a court considers relevant to the case; (b) offering counselling to offenders and, in respect of juvenile offenders, their parents, on such terms and conditions, and for such period, as may be directed by a court; (c) supervising sentenced to do community service work, or who are under probation orders; (d) supervising offenders who are sentenced to combination orders; (e) compiling statistics and undertaking research generally on any area of the criminal justice system, or on penal reform; (f) at the request of a court, supervising offenders at the post-sentencing stage; (Alternative Sentences) 11 (g) compiling manuals on the operations of community orders in practice; (h) identifying and screening hospitals, schools, town, village and city councils and other institutions to determine their interest, suitability and ability to provide placement to sentenced to do (i) monitoring the institutions referred to in paragraph (h) to ensure that there is adequate supervision of, and full compliance with, the terms and conditions of community service (j) reporting to the original court, within seventy- two hours, breaches of the terms and conditions of community service orders by (k) determining, and facilitating the provision of transport, food and other factors necessary to enable offenders under community sentences to discharge their sentences; (l) informing offenders of community sentences, in ordinary language, reporting procedures, terms and conditions of their sentences where conditions are imposed as part of the (m) liaising with the Commission and other bodies, governmental or otherwise, involved in the criminal justice system generally or in penal reform in particular; 12 (Alternative Sentences) (n) managing certified children’s institutions established or operated by the Government.