Le Travail D'Interet General: The French Option in Substituting Short-Term Imprisonment (From Community Service: A New Option in Punishing Offenders in Europe, P 89-107, 1986, Hans-Jorg Albrecht and Wolfram Schadler, eds. -- See NCJ-116154)

• NCJ Number: 116160
• Author(s): N Maestracci
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: Max-Planck-Institute Fur Auslandisches und Internationales Strafrecht
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: West Germany (Former)

Annotation

This paper describes the nature and use of the community service order in France and presents court statistics on its use in 1984 and 1985.

Abstract

Community service in France is intended for cases that would ordinarily carry short prison terms. The aim of the order is to eliminate the negative effects on the offender of imprisonment and also reduce prison crowding. The order can be a sole principal sanction if the offender has no prior convictions in the past 5 years for which imprisonment exceeded more than 4 months. It can also be an additional condition in the case of a suspended prison sentence. The community service order is unpaid work which should not affect ordinary employment opportunities for the offender. Community service orders must be voluntarily accepted by offenders. The number of community service hours may range between a minimum of 40 hours to a maximum of 240 hours within a maximum time period of 18 months. The community service order is available both for adult and juvenile offenders. The probation service is responsible for supervising the implementation of the orders. On average, a community service order costs between 100 and 300 French francs. Data on community service for 1984-85 cover the percentage of offenders given the order by offense, the kinds of service rendered, offender age and occupation, type of institution served, and number of orders served. 8 tables, 7 references.