[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Community orders" ids="144610,144611,144612,144613,144614"] Saudi Gazette report MANY countries have begun to adopt alternative sentencing programs as a more lenient form of punishment for petty crimes. In the Kingdom, an alternative sentence is a combination of punishments, including compulsory community service. Al-Riyadh daily reports how in recent years, courts all over the Kingdom have adopted alternative sentencing programs. Dr. Ismael Kutubkhana, professor of sociology at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz University, said alternative sentences give offenders a chance to correct their behavior and do something constructive for the community. Alternative sentences are usually reserved for less serious crimes committed by first-time offenders. The judge decides that there is no need to send a first-time offender to prison as doing so may have a negative influence on his behavior and lead him to mingling with hardened criminals. Another advantage of alternative sentencing is that it helps reduce prison overcrowding and expenses. "One of the most effective alternative sentences is community service for limited hours every day over a set period of time. Another one is requiring the offender to work for a government agency and help employees at the agency finish their tasks. These sentences have proved to be effective in reforming the behavior of minor offenders," he said Psychologist Ebtissam Al-Hayan said it was wrong to send first-time offenders to prison and give them a chance to intermingle with criminals. Alternative sentencing has a similar effect to prison because the offender still does not have the same privileges other people surrounding him have and he is expected to finish his tasks or face serious consequences. "Alternative sentencing allows the offender to stop and think for a moment about the crime he committed and how he can return to the right path. In fact, it is a smart way to fix an offender's behavior without putting his social reputation at stake and without shaking his self-confidence. In fact, it boosts his morale as members of society view him more positively," she explained. Lawyer Khalid Abu Rashed said the Ministry of Justice should require all courts to adopt alternative sentences as an option in order to reduce the harm of prison on first-time offenders. The system of alternative penalties aims at limiting the number of prisoners through devising other punishments that do not involve criminals being physically present inside the prison. "We all know how much damage serving a prison sentence can cause to the offender. It can cost him his reputation and chances to go to college or find work in a decent company. If a person has committed a less serious felony, he should not pay a hefty price for it," he said. Dr. Yasser Al-Bilawi, a former judge, was a member of the committee formed by the ministry to assess the performance and maturity of the judiciary. He was also part of the team that studied the draft law for alternative sentences before applying it by the courts. "Putting someone in jail for an offense is sometimes not the best way to deal with the situation. Many studies have shown that it is better for countries to adopt alternative sentencing as an option. Only a judge can decide the type of alternative sentence and he should ensure that the sentence helps the offender correct his behavior and be a law-abiding citizen," he said. Alternative penalties will be basically applied to minor crimes since major ones already have their fixed penalties. "In crimes that threaten the stability of society, offenders cannot be allowed to roam free in society," then Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdul Karim Al-Eissa had said while discussing a draft law on alternative punishments at a meeting in Riyadh. Alternative penalties are not new and are already in effect in several Arab countries as well as across the world, according to judge and Shoura Council member Eisa Al-Ghaith. However, they cannot be applied to crimes that have fixed penalties, he said. "We cannot have an alternative penalty for crimes that have fixed punishments in Islam like murder, or adultery. The same applies to other major crimes like drug trafficking," Ghaith said during discussions on the draft law, in which many members of the judiciary and prison administrators took part. Ghaith added that alternative penalties should also not be applicable to people with a criminal history. "It doesn't make sense that someone who committed five or six crimes before will get the privilege of an alternative penalty." Regarding ways of monitoring, Ghaith said a possibility was to get a guarantor for each offender. "Fines are also another possibility," he added. Ghaith pointed out that the main aim of applying alternative penalties is to ensure that the lives of people who commit minor offenses are not ruined even if for a short time. "Suppose a man is caught with some narcotic pill and he has no criminal record at all, it is better not to imprison him for six months as he might have a wife and children." Ghaith objected to viewing the main objective of the new law as a way of cutting prison budgets and argued that it should not be not financial. "What we care about is whether the offender will really undergo rehabilitation in prison or will just come out with more problems and transfer them to the rest of society." Despite the potential of the law, Ghaith explained, it is still facing several obstacles. "There are currently no regulations for the alternative penalties, no penal code that permit this new kind of penalties, no initiative on the part of prosecutor general, and no authority to be in charge with implementing those penalties," he said.
