Community service

At the request of the prosecutor, a probation office prepares a pre-sentence report for the trial before judgment is passed. The report assesses the person’s suitability for community service.
The court may impose community service if the accused:

• is sentenced to unconditional imprisonment of no more than eight months;

• consents to community service; and

• is deemed capable of completing community service.

Previous community service or prison sentences may influence whether a new community service sentence is imposed.

Once the court has passed judgment, the probation office arranges a service place and supervises the completion of community service. The aim is to find tasks that are suitable for the sentenced person.

Content

The probation office prepares a specified sentence plan, which includes information about the service place, schedule, conditions and other necessary regulations, which must be complied with. Failure to comply with the plan may result in sanctions.

Persons sentenced to community service carry out unpaid work for the public good during their free time Typically, they work three to four hours at a time, twice a week. One hour of community service is equivalent to one day of imprisonment. Serving the sentence is scheduled to match the length of the original prison sentence. The amount of unpaid work during this period ranges from 14 to 240 hours. A maximum of 120 hours of community service may be imposed as an ancillary sanction to conditional imprisonment.

Up to 30 hours of community service may be fulfilled through participation in rehabilitation programmes aimed at reducing substance abuse problems or preventing reoffending. Exceptions to the 30-hour limit may be applied to persons under the age of 21.

Substance abuse treatment is organised in cooperation with local A-Clinics or other service providers. A road safety programme organised in cooperation with the Finnish Road Safety CouncilAvautuu uuteen välilehteen is available for those who are repeatedly found guilty of aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Persons serving community service continue to live at home and may study or work as usual. Unemployed persons may remain registered as jobseekers and retain their entitlement to unemployment benefit.

Service places

The service places for carrying out community service may be bodies or associations governed by public law (state, municipalities, joint municipal authorities, parishes) or other non-profit entities (organisations, sports clubs, foundations). They may also be entrepreneurs or organisations providing publicly supervised services to a body governed by public law.
Each community service place has a designated contact person with whom the probation office maintains regular contact.

The service place does not get financial compensation from the Prison and Probation Service, but benefits from the work performed by the sentenced person. The tasks are typically assisting in nature and vary depending on the service place.

Conditions

Sentenced persons must carry out community service in accordance with their sentence plan and schedule. The probation office may issue a warning if the sentenced person breaches the obligations laid down by law, such as fails to comply with the sentence plan or attend supervision appointments or behaves in an inappropriate manner. If the breach of the obligations is minor and it is not repeated, a reprimand may be issued instead.

Serious breaches, such as absence from community service or intoxication at the service place, may result in suspension of community service and notification to the prosecutor. At the request of the prosecutor, the court may convert the remaining sentence into imprisonment. The court may also convert community service into imprisonment for a new offence.

More about the enforcement of community sanctions