Sentencing Act 2020

Instructions given by responsible officer

5 (1) Any instructions given by the responsible officer pursuant to the rehabilitation activity requirement must be given with a view to promoting the offender’s rehabilitation.

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) does not prevent the responsible officer giving instructions with a view to other purposes in addition to rehabilitation.

(3) The responsible officer may instruct the offender to attend appointments with the responsible officer or with someone else.

(4) The responsible officer, when instructing the offender to participate in activities, may require the offender—

(a) to participate in specified activities and, while doing so, comply with instructions given by the person in charge of the activities, or

(b) to go to a specified place and, while there, comply with any instructions given by the person in charge of the place.

(5) The references in sub-paragraph (4)(a) and (b) to instructions given by a person include instructions given by anyone acting under the person’s authority.

(6) The activities that a responsible officer may instruct the offender to participate in include—

(a) activities forming an accredited programme (see paragraph 6(2));

(b) activities whose purpose is reparative, such as restorative justice activities.

(7) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (6)(b), an activity is a restorative justice activity if—

(a) the participants consist of, or include, the offender and any victim or victims,

(b) the aim of the activity is to maximise the offender’s awareness of the impact of the offending concerned on the victims, and

(c) the activity gives a victim or victims an opportunity to talk about, or by other means express experience of, the offending and its impact.

(8) In sub-paragraph (7) “victim” means a victim of, or other person affected by, the offending concerned.

(9) Where compliance with an instruction would require the co-operation of a person other than the offender, the responsible officer may give the instruction only if that person agrees.