Criminal Justice and Licensing Act 2010: Decreasing Reoffending in Scotland

Social Work
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Table of Contents
Law........................................................................................................................................................3
Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.........................................................................3
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995...........................................................................................4
Policies..................................................................................................................................................4
National Objectives and standard for social work in the criminal justice 1991..................................4
National outcomes and standard for social work in the criminal justice system 2010.......................5
National Strategy for community justice 2016..................................................................................5
References.............................................................................................................................................7
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Law
Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010
Defining crime in such a way to punish and criminalize it, constitute important legal and
theoretical issues. The issue of reoffending have been addressed by the Scottish Parliament in
the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. It introduced presumptions against
the short sentences. The presumption explains that a court should not pass the imprisonment
sentence for three months period until it considers that there is no procedure to deal with the
individual (Campbell, 2014). An opportunity is being provided to the offender to improve his
life which leads to decrease in reoffending in Scotland.
Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 introduced Community Payback Orders.
Community Payback Orders replaces the provisions for supervised attendance orders,
probation orders, former community order and community service orders. Unpaid work or
other activities are being offered to offenders aged 16 or over. The court requires imposing
offender supervision requirements if the offender is below 18 years of age. If the offender
comes under one of these requirements such as alcohol treatment, programme, residence,
mental health treatment, drug treatment then the rule can be applied (Legislation, 2019). The
reoffending can be reduced because it assists the individuals to work and improve life.
The Criminal Justice and Licensing Act 2010 has been designed to deliver effective justice
through the offenders who carry out unpaid works. It has decreased reoffending by enabling
the criminal justice social workers to carry out their duties. Community penalties have been
more effective than the sentences of short prison and played a significant role in decreasing
reoffending. The length of a custodial sentence in 2008 to 2009 was up to three months which
made up 41 percent of the custodial sentence and it has dropped to 27 percent in 20017 to
2018 (Gov, 2018).
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Source: (Gov, 2018)
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995
According to the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, no child under the age of 8 years
can be guilty of an offence. A child is under 18 will be considered as the out of the capacity
for committing a crime in Scotland (McCallum, 2019). If a person in police custody is below
18 years of age then the person is supported through different techniques as per section 30.
An applicable person who can assist the offender in such a situation could be guardian or
parents or carer. Children below 16 years old under police custody have the right to be in
regular contact with their parents. In case the parents are not available the child must have
access to another applicable adult (Shiels, 2011). The law has been implemented to guide and
provide right direction to minors and assisted to reduce reoffending in Scotland.
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