A total of 2,300 hours of community service have so far been ordered by the courts to people who have been convicted of various criminal charges. Nearly half of them have already been carried out to the benefit of the community, while the rest are still under way.
The handing out of community service orders is an alternative given to the courts in dealing with offenders. Rather than sending them to prison, the magistrates and judges have the possibility of ordering a number of hours of community service.
In this way, offenders have the chance of “repaying” society for the crimes they would have committed by “working” free of charge, and at the same time trying to help themselves out of criminal circles, apart from of course avoiding spending time in jail.
The service is run by the Probation Services Department, which falls under the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry. People who are given such sentences are constantly monitored by probation officers who must see that they are keeping up with their work diligently, or otherwise it’s back to the courts for a probable harsher sentence.
Such a system serves people who were found guilty of criminal offences as an eye-opener, a chance to get their life back on track and a possibility of re-integrating themselves into society.
Various offenders are being handed out such sentences, and these include people who commit drug-related crimes. However, before being handed a community service order, it must be ensured that they have followed a drug rehabilitation programme.
Drug addiction is a vicious circle. Many fall into the trap as young people, probably when they are still at school, and their addiction does not help them to further their studies or else find a job. The money they need to maintain their habit would be beyond their means, and this leads many of them to turn to crime to sustain their drug-taking.
Many drug addicts would not know what the responsibility of a job means. The community service order in this way helps them to understand the commitment one has to give in one’s work. By having this experience, they have the chance to start a new chapter in their lives, first of all by moving away from drugs altogether and secondly by doing something worthwhile.
There are several jobs that these people carry out, mostly with non-governmental organisations or with local councils. Painting, general maintenance, computer work, assisting facilitators working with people having physical or mental disabilities and helping charities taking care of abandoned animals have been the main tasks they have been assigned to do so far.
The system has been in force since 2003, and there have been several success stories. The CSO is considered to be a cost-effective way of dealing with offenders, mainly because through it they would be performing deeds for society, which is considered as having been the victim of their crimes.
The idea of “reparation and restitution” on which the system is based has been used in other countries for many years with good results, and it is working here in Malta too. But there is a difference.
Whereas in a number of other countries such orders are given to humiliate the person involved – a typical case was the community service order given to singer Boy George a few days ago – in Malta such orders are intended to bring out the best from the people involved. Here, the offenders’ capabilities are analysed and they are put to the better use of society.
The only snag in the system is that there are not enough probation officers. Before an offender can be given a community service order, a detailed report on him or her must be prepared by probation officers. This takes time. Last year, the 10 probation officers had, on average, 440 cases to deal with at the same time.
If the system is to become more efficient and more widespread, more probation officers need to be employed. After all, the system is intended to give people who commit a crime a chance to turn over a new leaf.