Court cases, orders and sentencing

This is also known as a custodial sentence or imprisonment. The court decides when you can apply for parole.

A prison term begins on the day you are sentenced. If you have already spent time in prison before you were sentenced for this crime, this may be backdated.

This means this time is counted in your overall sentence time.

Time in prison

The time you spend in prison depends on the seriousness of the crime, and the maximum penalty you can be given for that crime under the law.

Prisoners must apply for parole. The Parole Board decides whether you will be granted parole.

Suspended sentence

You can be given a fully suspended or partly suspended sentence.

This means part or all of the time you were sentenced to in prison can be served outside of the prison under supervision and certain conditions.

These conditions can include any of the following:

• a curfew
• reporting to the police
• community work – find out more information on community work orders
• paying a fine
• alcohol and drug testing.

If you break any of these conditions you may have to go to prison and serve some, or all, of the suspended time of your prison sentence.