Receiving the Court Order

Introduction

This topic covers the activities required of CPPS staff in relation to the court order.

Legislative reference

Court orders are governed by section 74 of the Sentencing Act 2002.

When court orders are issued

The court issues a court order on the offender immediately following their sentencing either:

before the offender leaves the court, or
as soon as practicable after the offender leaves the court.

The court may direct that an offender be detained in the custody of the court for no more than two hours to enable:

the order to be drawn up, and
a copy given to the offender.

When there is a probation officer at the court, the offender is to be directed by that probation officer for first report in at the appropriate community work centre.

Note: The serving of the court order is part of the service level agreement between the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) (Courts).

Court orders

The following actions apply to court orders:

The offender signs the court order as acknowledgment that:
- they have received the court order, and
- they understand the requirements of the court order, particularly the requirement to report as soon as possible and no later than 72 hours.
At the CPPS service centre, each court order must be checked for accuracy and the court must correct any errors. If changes are required, CPPS must immediately request a new order from the issuing court. That request must be recorded in writing.
Any modification to a court order must be recorded in IOMS by administrative support staff.
A correct copy of each Court order must be retained on the relevant offender's file.

Process

The following table shows the overall process from setting up an offender's CW sentence up to their first report in.

Stage	Description
1	The offender is sentenced to a community-based sentence at court. Where possible, a probation officer at the court will: ascertain or confirm the offender's home address for reporting requirements, and issue an instruction to report (ITR) for a pre-arranged appointment.
2	Court staff will : draw up the court order serve it on the offender, and explain the details.
3	The offender signs the court order, and retains a copy.
4	CPPS administration staff enter details, linked through to IOMS, and forward the original of the court order to the appropriate CPPS office/service centre: through the court servicing team, or by mail. Note: The original court order is to be kept on the offender's CW sentence file.
5	When a sentence request has been received in IOMS, and a paper copy of the order has been received, administrative support staff check the Court order for errors. Are there errors? If no then go to stage 7. If yes then: check the Court Order Received & Checked box in the Sentence Order Management screen update any known offender details, and refer the document back to sentencing Court for an amended order to be served on the offender. Note: Court staff are to send a copy of the amended order to CPPS once it has been served on the offender.
6	If a hard copy of the order is not received, contact the court to request a copy and to confirm that the order has been served.
7	Administrative support staff: create a sentence file (or re-open an existing one if the offender has a previous sentence file still open), and place the original court order (with any corrections) on the file.
8	The CW probation officer reviews the files against the OWR criteria. If the offender meets the criteria the assessment is referred to the service manager for confirmation.

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