Probation Act (Cap. 446), article 11

11. (1) A community service order may be given to an offender aged sixteen years and over, convicted of an offence f or which, in the opinion of the Court, the appropriate sentence wo uld, except for the provisions of this article, be one of imprisonme nt. Such an offence must not be punishable only by a fine ( multa or ammenda ) and cannot be an offence, which apart from any increase in punishment in view of the continuity or of previous convicti ons, is punishable with imprisonment exceeding seven years and the provisions of the proviso to article 7(2) shall apply mutatis mutandis to this subarticle. (2) The court may, instead of sentencing the offender to imprisonment, order the offender to be placed on a community service order. A community service order shall require the offe nder to perform unpaid work or unpaid work and training, if such would be recommended in the reports referred to in article 11(3)( a), for a number of hours as specified in the order. In any such case no order shall require the offender to perform less than forty hours of work or more than four hundred and eighty hours. (3) The court shall not make a community service order unless the following conditions have been met: (a) the court is satisfied, after considering the offender’s circumstances and the pre-sentencing report, that the offender is suitable to perform work under such an order: Provided that where the court is so satisfied, it may, PROBATION [CAP. 446. 9 after considering the offender’s circumstances, dispense from the need of a written pre-sentencing report and order that a verbal report be submitted, and such verbal report shall be duly recorded in the court’s proceedings; (b) that arrangements can be made for such work; (c) the offender has agreed to the order; and (d) the offender has signed the community service work agreement form. (4) Before making a community service order in respect of an offender the court shall explain to the offender in ordinary la nguage the effect of the order and that if the offender fails to compl y therewith or commits another offence, the offender will be liab le to be sentenced for the original offence. (5) The court by which the community service order is made shall forthwith give copies of the order to the offender, to th e Director, the community service officer assigned to the case by the Director, and to the agencies and authorities responsible for t he supervision of the community service order. (6) It shall be duty of the Director to assign work to the probationer in accordance with the community service order. Regulation of hours of work.