Community Service

Community service, often incorporating mediation and other restorative processes, has been adopted nationally as an alternative to imprisonment

National Community Service Committee. Community Service Programme: An Update National Community Service Committee.

This document provides an overview of the efforts to establish the use of community service orders in Uganda.

National Community Service Committee . Workshop Report for the National Community Service Programme

A workshop to review the National Community Service Project document covering the pilot phase was held on December 17-18, 2001 at the Jokas Hotel near Kampala.

Mpuru Ntuli, Ronald and Dlula, Sonwabo Victor. Enhancement of Community-Based Alternatives to Incarceration at All Stages of the Criminal Justice Process in South Africa

Trends in the prison population of South Africa are reviewed and reveal that as of the end of March 2001, the Department of Correctional Services reported a total prison population of 170,959 prisoners, with cell accommodations for 102,048 prisoners. The next section examines the community corrections system in South Africa, which offers two basic alternatives to incarceration: correctional supervision and parole supervision. The conditions to which parolees and probationers may be subjected and the consequences for noncompliance are enumerated, followed by a discussion of the high case loads of community corrections staff. The ratio of staff to probationer/parolee reached 1 to 34 in 2000/20001. Despite these problems, community-based sanctions are more cost-effective than incarceration in South Africa. Other available community-based alternatives to incarceration in South Africa are presented and include alternative sanctions at the pre-trial stage, the sentencing stage, and the post-sentencing stage. Alternative sanctions at the pre-trial stage include pre-trial services and diversion programs; the sentencing stage alternatives include fines, community service orders, and suspended sentences; the post-sentencing alternative is a provision that the National Council may recommend that any prisoners or group of prisoners may be placed under Community Corrections. Next, the background, definition, practices, and processes of restorative justice are presented, followed by an analysis of the advantages of community-based sanctions. Advantages include the ability to keep the family unit together; the retention of the employment and economic contributions of the offender, and the enhancement of rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders. Community-based sanctions should be enhanced to reduce the prison population and gain community support in rehabilitating offenders. Abstract courtesy of National Criminal Justice Reference Servvice, www.ncjrs.org.

Garwe, Paddington. The Zimbabwe community service scheme

Community service as an alternative to incarceration came into existence in Zimbabwe following an amendment to the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act in 1992. In this address, Justice Paddington Garwe first discusses conditions regarding incarceration in general in African countries; then he turns specifically to the Zimbabwe community service scheme. He examines its background, structure, supervisors, coordination and supervision of community service orders, guidelines for magistrates, the role of the judiciary and the public, and problems that affected the scheme.

Fn’Piere, P. "Defusing Violence in South Africa: the Move to Establish Community Dispute Resolution Centers."

The Community Dispute Resolution Trust is a committee of six individuals who help fund and guide the development of community dispute resolution centers that use mediation to resolve conflicts among community residents. This is an effort to provide black communities with a nongovernmental institution that relies upon the historically African methods of dispute resolution (primarily mediation) to resolve conflicts between individuals and community groups. The trust was established in 1990 and received major funding from the United States Agency for International Development and other funds from Great Britain, the European community, and local companies. Currently there are two dispute resolution centers, one in Alexandra and one in Hillbrow, and training is underway in seven additional communities. Each community proposes the names of people to be trained in mediation and the operation of the centers. The centers focus on the resolution of interpersonal and possibly interorganizational conflicts at the grass-roots level. In providing mechanisms to help neighborhoods address conflicts, the aim is to prevent escalation toward violence. Centers will intervene in minor criminal offenses such as property damage and petty theft. Conflict that cannot be resolved by the centers may be referred to the police. The system of dispute resolution centers is not intended to replace the court system, but rather to provide an alternative for people who prefer to address their conflicts through a neighborhood institution composed of their peers.

Edanyu, G. Wilson and Sita, N. Masamba. Awareness and attitude of the public towards community service: Research Sub-Committee's report

This document stems from a pilot research project on community service. The research had two aims: (1) gather public opinion about the introduction of a community service law in Uganda; and (2) evaluate different activities carried out since 1997 related to the actual introduction of community service. Data on public opinion were collected through a questionnaire (the questions and analysis of the collected data are in the report) and administered to a representative sample of the population in Uganda. The questions sought information on how people heard about the community service initiative and what they thought of it.

Deputy Chief Justice Of Uganda. National Community Service Committee

Community service is part of penal reform in this country, which will ultimately contribute to the improvement of the rule of law in the country. The decision to include community service among punishments for offences in the crime was taken for various reasons.

Community Service in Uganda

On November 6th 2001, the Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda announced the official implementation of Community Service orders in Uganda. The announcement marked the culmination of several years of development and preparation. Originally intended to lower prison populations and provide more humane treatment for offenders, the new policies provide space for participation by victims and the community, while creating room for the growing use of restorative process.