A sanction is any form of action taken by the probation officer in response to non-compliance that does not involve legal enforcement action.
In order to maintain the integrity of the sentence, it is essential that some form of action is taken in response to any and all instances of non-compliance.
Sanctions are the least severe form of action that can be taken in response to any non-compliance for which the offender does not have a reasonable excuse.
Sanctions available for use with rehabilitative sentences are:
Sanctions are used when an offender commits a minor infringement that is not serious enough to warrant breach or an application to the court/New Zealand Parole Board (NZPB).
If the non-compliance is itself only a minor infringement, but is part of a pattern that indicates an increasing risk of non-compliance and/or further offending, then escalation to legal action must be considered.
If sanctions do not achieve the required compliance, and the offender continues to commit minor infringements, escalation to legal action must be considered.
If you are in any doubt about whether a sanction is the appropriate action to take, you must discuss the situation with your service manager. It is usually better to err on the side of caution, and take more severe enforcement action. If you do decide to use a sanction, ensure that your reasons are clearly recorded in the casenotes.
All instances of non-compliance must be investigated.
If the offender has a reasonable excuse for the non-compliance, it may be appropriate not to take further action against the offender. In this situation, the reasonable excuse must be validated and recorded in the file notes.
It may also be appropriate to write to the offender to formally note that their excuse has been accepted, and to remind them of the importance of continuing to comply in future.
Probation officers must be alert to:
If in doubt, discuss with a service manager.
There is less tolerance for non-compliance by offenders on the offender warning system (OWS), and this is taken into account when considering whether the use of a sanction is appropriate.
Reference: For managing non-compliance for OWS offenders on parole, see Volume 2, Part VII, Chapter 3, Section 3E OWS, Offender on Parole (please refer to the related links section on this page).
There may be some situations in which the repeated use of sanctions is appropriate.
If a sanction achieves an improvement for a period of time but then the offender lapses, then a further sanction of the same type may be appropriate.
Example: An offender is compliant with all aspects of the sentence but fails to attend scheduled alcohol and other drugs (AOD) counselling. Following receipt of a written warning, the offender re-arranges and attends an additional session and continues to attend as required for the next month. The offender then fails to attend again, but remains compliant with all other sentence requirements. A second written warning may be an appropriate sanction.
If the initial sanction does not achieve the required result, it may be appropriate to progress through the different types of sanctions.
Example: An offender is four hours late for a scheduled report in, and the probation officer issues a verbal warning. The offender is two hours late for the next report in, so the probation officer issues a written warning. The offender is again two hours late for the next report in, so the probation officer makes a decision not to progress the offender to the next sentence management phase until a regular pattern of reporting on time is established.
When considering the use of a sanction, the probation officer should:
When a sanction is used, the probation officer should inform the offender of the consequences of any further non-compliance. This information should be included in any written communication to the offender regarding the non-compliance.
The probation officer may use sanctions in response to non-compliance with reporting requirements, and also in some circumstances in response to failure to comply with other standard or special conditions.
Examples:
The following list provides examples when sanctions may be used. The list is a guideline only, and is not exhaustive.
There are additional situations where sanctions would be appropriate for offenders subject to:
Examples:
Specific details of any non-compliance and the corresponding action taken by the probation officer must be recorded in casenotes.
As well as providing a record of the offender’s compliance with the requirements of the sentence, this information will be important in the event of any legal enforcement action which may be taken in response to further non-compliance.
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