Community service

The Prison and Probation Service assesses the person’s suitability for community service before the sentence is passed and it acquires a service place and supervises the performance of the service.

Community service can be sentenced if:

• the sentence for the offence is less than eight months of imprisonment;

• the accused consents to community service;

• the accused is assumed to be capable of carrying out the service.

Previous community service sentences or unconditional prison sentences may prevent the passing of a new community service.

At the request of the prosecutor, the Prison and Probation Service prepares a pre-sentence report on the capacity of the accused to carry out community service. The service is non-profit work carried out according to a sentence plan. Breaching the plan conditions will lead to a sanction.

In the past few years, approximately 35% of unconditional prison sentences not exceeding eight months have been converted into community service. The annual number of enforced community service sentences is around 3600-3700 of which more than 80% are completed. The most common offence resulting in community service is aggravated drunken driving; it is the principal offence of over half of all the offenders sentenced to community service.

Pre-sentence report

The prosecutor requests the Prison and Probation Service to assess the suitability of the accused for community service. If the prosecutor has not made such a request, the accused or his or her counsel may contact a local community sanctions office and request a suitability assessment.

The pre-sentence report determines the potential of the accused to carry out community service. For the purpose of the assessment, the accused is invited to an interview. In addition, necessary information regarding the assessment is acquired from different authorities. The purpose is to assess the accused person’s life situation as well as motivation to carry out community service. If necessary, various support services can be planned to secure that the service is carried out successfully. The accused is compensated for reasonable travelling expenses relating to the pre-sentence report.

In conclusion, the Prison and Probation Service gives a statement on the capacity of the accused to carry out community service. Negative statements are usually attributed to the uncontrolled substance use of the accused. If the court considers that the accused does not have the prerequisites to carry out community service, the accused is not sentenced to community service.

Carrying out the service

The offender sentenced to community service carries out non-profit work on his or her leisure time. A sentence plan is drawn up for the enforcement of each community service sentence and it is confirmed by the Prison and Probation Service. The sentence plan includes the details about the service place, the schedule of the service, and the service conditions, which the sentenced offender has to follow. The Prison and Probation Service confirms the sentence plan and supervises the carrying out of the community service.

The service is scheduled to last the term of the original prison sentence. The service place is determined by the Prison and Probation Service, which makes the contract with the place. The aim is to find tasks suitable for the offender.

The service places may be arranged by the public sector (state, municipality, joint municipal authority, parish), a public corporation or other non-profit organisation (association, sports club, foundation). The service cannot be carried out in a commercial enterprise or at the service of a private person. The service place receives no compensation but only the work contribution of the offender serving the sentence.

The community service tasks are usually assistant work and they vary according to the branch of the service place. Most common tasks are real estate maintenance or kitchen work in municipal institutions (support or nursing homes, hospitals, health care centres). Recreational and sports activities of municipalities also provide many service places. In parishes, the service tasks are often connected with graveyard maintenance.

The offender sentenced to community service works according to a schedule for three to four hours at a time. The service is usually carried out twice a week. The offender is compensated for necessary travelling expenses caused by carrying out the service. Each service place has a designated person who acts as the contact person between the Prison and Probation Service and the service place. An employee of the Prison and Probation Service visits the service place regularly and also calls by phone. The offender is able to live at home and continue his or her studies or work during the sentence term.

An unemployed community service client can be a job seeker and retain the right to unemployment benefit. A maximum of 30 hours of the community service sentence can be carried out by participating in programmes, which aim to decrease substance abuse problems or prevent recidivism in other ways. Substance abuse programmes are usually arranged in co-operation with the local A-Clinic Foundation. A traffic safety programme organised in co-operation with the Central Organisation for Traffic Safety in Finland is aimed for offenders found repeatedly guilty of aggravated drunken driving.

Approximately 2 600 agreements with service places have been made around the country. If you know a potential service place, please contact a community sanctions office of the Prison and Probation Service.

Service conditions

• Community service is carried out in accordance with a precise sentence plan. The plan and its schedule must be complied with precisely.

• A breach of the service conditions (e.g. being late) results in an oral or a written warning or a written caution.

• A gross breach of the conditions (e.g. absence from service or being under the influence of an intoxicating substance at the service place) can lead to the interruption of the service and a notification to the prosecutor. On the prosecutor’s proposal, the court may convert the remaining sentence into imprisonment. Community service can also be interrupted and converted into imprisonment due to a new offence.