Our place in the justice process

Diversion from prosecution may be offered when you have a clear issue to resolve (for example substance misuse issues) and that prosecution is not the most useful path forward.

Diversion schemes provide an opportunity for your offences to be dealt with outwith the court system. It aims to prevent people entering the criminal justice system, to stop the cycle of offending and to address any underlying factors you may be struggling with at that time.

The COPFS will refer you to us for help and support (including treatment) to help you remove the issues that led to you offending in the first place and to stop it happening again.

The Procurator Fiscal can impose a Fiscal Work Order (FWO) instead of proceeding with a prosecution.  You could be asked to complete between 10 and 50 hours of unpaid work in the community within six months. If the hours are not completed, then your case might still be prosecuted.

You have to agree to a Fiscal Work Order being imposed.

We assess your needs and can refer you to other services where there are issues related to housing, mental health, welfare, substance misuse and employment.

If you plead guilty, or are found guilty, of an offence at court, a Sheriff or Judge might ask for a Justice Social Work Report (JSWR) to be prepared for sentencing.

This report will be used to help guide your sentencing and make recommendations on which of the different community-based sentences may be the most appropriate based on your needs and risk assessment.

This will be required if you are under 21 years of age, you already have a legal order or have any other issues which your solicitor may highlight such as poor mental health. Depending on the type of offence, we will have between four to six weeks to complete this.

This is a report which provides information about you and your past and current offence(s). It provides useful advice to the court to help decide on which sentence to impose, such as a fine, community sentence or imprisonment.

Where will the interview take place?

This may vary. Most likely you will be asked to come into the Justice social work office and, if necessary, a further appointment may be made with you in your home or some other suitable venue. If remanded, it will occur in the prison.

Can I refuse to give information?

Yes, but you need to think about what this will mean for your case. If the report writer does not have enough information in order to complete the report, then a letter will be sent to the court explaining the reasons why a report is not available.

What sort of information will I be asked for?

You will be asked for information on

• your offence(s) which led to you appearing in court, as well as any previous offending;
• your current circumstances, such as where you live and who you live with;
• your financial circumstances, such as how much money comes into your household and what bills or debts you have to pay;
• your health, such as illnesses or disabilities;
• your past involvement with social work services and the extent to which this might have assisted you to make more positive choices and refrain from offending behaviour

The report writer will look at this information alongside other details available. The interview will include a discussion with you about whether you are suitable for a community sentence, where appropriate. The social worker will explain what this means.

Will anyone else be asked for information for the report?

Yes, but it depends on your circumstances. The person writing the report will discuss with you who they plan to get information from. This may be family members, your defence agent and past social work records. It may involve getting your permission, for example, to obtain information from your GP or any other services you have engaged with in the community.

The information which you and others provide will be held confidentially. However, any information included in the report will be viewed by the Sheriff and could be referred to during your sentencing hearing.

Sometimes the Press are present in court. They are not given a copy of the report but may report on any case which is discussed in open court.

Do I get to see the report?

Yes. Your defence agent will receive a copy of the report from the Clerk of Court, which will be available for you. If you do not have a defence agent, a copy of the report will be passed to you by a member of court staff. Sometimes the person who wrote the report, or the social worker at court, will also go over the contents of the report with you.

What should I do once the report is complete?

You should attend court on time and meet with your solicitor where necessary. You will be sentenced at court and, depending on the sentence, this may include working with the justice social work service on a community sentence. If this is the case, you will require to attend for interview or begin your community sentence, either on the day you are sentenced or the following day.

Find out more about attending a criminal court.

If you are granted bail, conditions will be put in place of things you must/must not do or you will be remanded in custody (go to prison). We will support you to keep to your bail conditions.

Bail supervision is a social work (or sometimes voluntary sector) service that supports you to keep to the conditions of your bail and keep you in the community safely.

It provides a safe and reliable alternative to being held in custody if you are accused or convicted of an offence(s) but may need support to keep to your bail conditions.

If the Court decides that you will need bail supervision, you must meet with a bail supervisor at set times per week, and this will be closely monitored to make sure that you are attending those meetings as well as keeping to the conditions of your bail.

The aims of supervision are to:

• Provide support to people in the community, which reduces the impact on them, their families, their employment and housing arrangements.
• Support and monitor compliance with bail conditions and the overall Court process.

A CPO will include requirements that best fit with your risk, needs and ability. A CPO can be made for between six months and three years.

A CPO can only be imposed if you agree to it, or an alternative sentence will be made. If you do not comply with your CPO as agreed at court, you are at risk of breaching your order. This will mean going back to court and if you are found guilty of breaching your CPO this is classed as a further offence.

There are 10 requirements that can be included in a CPO.

1. Supervision Requirement

Supervision involves regular contact with a social worker or Justice Assistant, to support you to reduce your offending behaviour and promote positive outcomes.

2. Unpaid work Requirement

Unpaid work involves carrying out work to the benefit of the local community and/or learning new skills. It allows you to make amends for the impact of your offending and repair the harm caused by your actions.

Hours can be:

• 20 - 100 hours (Level 1) to be completed within three months
• 101 - 300 hours (Level 2) to be completed within six months

This is chosen at court, and it must be started within seven days of the court’s decision being made.

CPOs also allow a proportion (30% or a maximum of 30 hours) of the unpaid work hours to be used for therapeutic groupwork/programme or vocational learning.

3. Programme Requirement

A supervision requirement will always be imposed where a programme requirement is made by the court. A programme requirement relates to an assessed need to undertake a programme of work, often in a group setting. Examples of this are the Fergus Programme or the Tay Project. The time of the programme requirement must not pass the period of supervision.

4. Compensation Requirement

A supervision requirement will be imposed in addition to a compensation requirement. A compensation requirement will require you to pay compensation for any personal injury, loss, damage or other matter incurred because of your offending behaviour. Payments will be made directly to the court either in a lump sum or instalments. Your social worker will monitor your compensation payments and may ask you to provide receipts.

• Compensation must be paid within 18 months, starting from the date the requirement was imposed or
• If you have a supervision requirement and it is shorter than the 18-month period the total sum must be paid two months before the end of any supervision requirement.

5. Residence Requirement

A supervision requirement will always be imposed by the court when a residence requirement is made.

When a residence requirement is imposed you will be required to reside at the address stated by the court. This would be assessed during the JSWR process and monitored by your allocated worker. Any change of address during an order must be assessed by your allocated worker.

6. Mental Health Requirement

A supervision requirement will always be imposed by the court when a mental health treatment requirement is made. The mental health requirement must not be longer than the period of supervision imposed. You must agree to a mental health requirement.

A mental health requirement is to ensure that if you have a diagnosed mental health condition and/or learning disability which contributes to your offending behaviour, you will receive support, care and treatment.

For a mental health requirement to be imposed the court must be satisfied by the evidence provided by a registered medical practitioner that:

• You suffer from a mental health condition
• The condition requires and may be helped by treatment
• Any treatment must be appropriate and agreed prior to being imposed
• Treatment can be provided to you as an inpatient in hospital or an outpatient at a hospital or other place which must be specified. The order may also specify treatment under a certain registered medical practitioner

Find out more information on Mental Health Requirement

7. Drug Treatment Requirement

A supervision requirement will always be imposed by the court when a drug treatment requirement is made. A drug treatment requirement might be imposed when there is drug issues identified, but where you do not have a persistent history of drug use.

The aim of all treatment should be recovery from drug use. Treatment does not require to be delivered by a drug specialist resource but can be delivered by a worker who has received appropriate training. We understand that recovery can be very different for everyone, and we will look at what options best suit your needs and the services available.

Find out more information on Drug Treatment Requirement

8. Alcohol Treatment Requirement

A supervision requirement will always be imposed by the court when an alcohol treatment requirement is made.

An alcohol treatment requirement may be considered where you have a dependency on alcohol, and this contributes to your offending behaviour. Addressing your alcohol dependence can therefore help address your offending behaviour as well as wider personal and social needs.

Find out more information on Alcohol Treatment Requirement

9. Conduct Requirement

A conduct requirement will only be imposed alongside a supervision requirement.

The intention of the "conduct requirement" in section 227W of the 1995 Act is to provide the courts with additional flexibility to impose requirements on you to do or refrain from doing specified things not covered elsewhere in the legislation. In so doing, the court must be satisfied that this is necessary to secure or promote good behaviour by you, or preventing further offending by you, and the conduct requirement is defined in the 1995 Act as such.

For example, the court may require you not to enter a certain street or not to enter a play park.

Find out more information on Conduct Requirement

10. Restriction of Liberty Order (ROLO) Requirement

Courts can impose a Restriction of Liberty Order (RLO) as part of a CPO. This can include the use of electronic monitoring (tagging) equipment to monitor your compliance with the Order.

A Restriction of Liberty Order requires you to be:

Restricted to a specific place for a maximum period of 12 hours per day for up to a maximum of 12 months

And/or restricted from a specified place or places for 24 hours a day up to 12 months

A Justice Social Worker will carry out the restriction of liberty order assessment during the JSWR stage

Find out more information on ROLO Requirement

Here are some of the groupwork programmes we may ask you to take part in.

• Connectere
  The Connectere Programme is a trauma responsive intervention programme for men within the Justice system. It aims to promote wellbeing within communities and break the intergenerational cycle of trauma.
• Fergus Programme
  The Fergus programme provides an integrated service to men, women and children who have been affected by, and involved in, the experience of domestic abuse. It aims to address men’s domestic behaviours through 14 prepack assessment modules, group work sessions and attendance thereafter at monthly maintenance meetings.
• Moving on Group
  The Moving on Group also known as MOG supports social inclusion, cooking, and other practical activities.
• Steps to Change
  Steps to Change is a 6-week groupwork programme focusing on the question of ‘why people offend’ and allows a space for them to consider their own reasons for offending. It allows an opportunity for self-reflection and peer discussion on changes you can make to prevent offending in the future.
• Understanding Relationships
  The Understanding Relationship group is a short group work programme which looks at our relationships with others and how we might improve these using communication and self-awareness.
• Steps to Health
  A group aimed to improving health through walking in the local community and connecting with the natural landscape in the Angus area.

The Sheriff may impose regular progress reviews at court to ensure that you are engaging with your order. Your allocated worker will submit a report on how you are progressing.

Courts can impose a Restriction of Liberty Order (RLO). This can include the use of electronic monitoring (tagging) equipment to monitor your compliance with the Order.

A Restriction of Liberty Order requires you to be:

• Restricted to a specific place for a maximum period of 12 hours per day for up to a maximum of 12 months
• And/or restricted from a specified place or places for 24 hours a day up to 12 months

A Justice Social Worker will carry out the restriction of liberty order assessment, however we do not supervise these orders.

Find out more information on ROLO

If you have been remanded or sentenced to custody you can ask for a Throughcare Service from Justice Social Work. Any person serving less than four years, during sentence or for up to one year after release, can ask Justice Services for support.

Statutory throughcare is provided to you if you are released from custody subject to:

• Life licence
• Parole licence
• Non-parole licence
• Extended sentence
• Supervised Released Order