Community Payback Orders - your views
Criminal Justice Social Work Reports
The report provides the Court with the information and advice it needs to decide the most appropriate way to deal with offenders.
After a conviction of an offence, the court may ask social workers to write a Criminal Justice Social Work Report. If the person is likely to go prison for the first time, the Court must have a report.
The Criminal Justice Social Work Report is written by a criminal justice social worker, who will contact the offender by letter and ask them to attend for an interview.
The interview will last between 1 and 2 hours and will include questions about:
- current circumstances
- personal and social history
- previous offences
- response to current or previous supervision, where relevant
At the end of the interview the social worker will explain what sentencing options are available to the Court.
The judge, sheriff or justice of the peace may decide on a community-based sentence or a prison sentence and ask that the offender is supervised on a licence on release.
Court social workers are available in all the Edinburgh Courts. They can provide advice and support to people appearing in court, and their families, before and after court proceedings.