NON-INSTITUTIONAL (Community-Based) CORRECTIONS

LESSON 1. INTRODUCTION

A. Introduction to Non-Institutional (Community-based) Corrections

Community-based corrections are non-institutional based corrections which are being
considered as the best alternative for imprisonment. It is a non-incarcerate system of correction.
It is described as a method of rehabilitating convicted felons without the need of placing them
into jail or prison facilities. It is likewise refer to any sanctions in which convicts serve all or a
portion of their entire sentence in the community. Community-based correction is a program
which deal with supervised rehabilitation of convicts with the community.
The idea behind non-institutional correction programs is that, most convicts can be effectively
held accountable for their crimes at the same time that they can fulfill legitimate living standards
in the community. Most convicts do not pose an imminent danger to themselves or to others and
can therefore remain the community to maintain relationships. Rehabilitating convicts within
the community confers several benefits such as:
1. The convict will remain in the community in which he or she has responsibilities. He
can continuously engage to his legitimate sources of livelihood to support himself and
his family and the government can collect taxes from him;
2. Convicts under community-based corrections are more capable to compensate their
victims through restitution or to pay-back the community through community service; and
3. Community-based corrections programs do not expose convicts to the subculture of
violence existing in jails and prisons.

B. Correction, Defined
The branch of the administration of Criminal Justice charged with the responsibility for the
custody, supervision and rehabilitation of convicted offenders. The dual purposes of Correction
are:
1. To punish; and
2. To rehabilitate the offender.

C. Forms of Corrections
1. Institutionalized Correction - The rehabilitation of offenders in jail or in prison.
2. Non-institutionalized Correction (Community-Based Correction).
Refers to correctional activities that may take place within the community.
They are in the forms of Probation, Parole, Conditional Pardon Community works

Note: Community-based corrections include all correctional activities that take place in the
community. It embraces any correctional activity in the community that directly addressed to the
offender and aimed at helping him to become a law-abiding citizen.
D. Forms of Community-based Correction Programs
The following are the most popular forms of Community-based Corrections that are applied in
the Philippines:

1. Probation. - Is a disposition, under which a defendant after conviction and sentence, is

release subject to the conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of a probation
officer.

2. Parole. - A conditional release from prison of a convicted person upon service of the
minimum of his indeterminate penalty.

3. Pardon. - A form of executive clemency which is exercise exclusively by the Chief

Executive. Pardon may be given conditionally (Conditional Pardon) or unconditionally (absolute
Pardon. For the purpose of Non-Institutional Correction, it is the Conditional Pardon with Parole
Conditions is under consideration.
Note: For simple infraction of laws or ordinances, Community Service may likewise be
considered as Community-based Correction. This is impose to require the violators to render
community service in lieu of payment of fine and/or imprisonment.

E. Entities of the Government task for providing Community-based

Correction
The following are the Entities of the Government that provide for Community-based Corrections:
1. Parole and Probation Administration (PPA)
i. Conduct investigation of all cases in relation to parole, probation and pardon; and
ii. Responsible for the supervision of all parolees, probationers and conditional pardon
grantees.
2. Board of Pardon and Parole (BPP)
i. Authority in Granting Parole; and
li. Responsible for recommending the grant of pardon and executive clemency to the
president.
3. Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
i. Handling cases of Child in Conflict with the Law (CICL).

F. Benefits of Community-based Corrections

The following are the benefits of Community-Based Corrections:
1. Strengthening family ties through avoidance of broken family relationships. - The
treatment and rehabilitation of convicted offender is done outside the institutional facilities,
hence, family members will not suffer broken family due to imprisonment of one of its member;
2. Prevention of Influence Contamination. - Putting convicted felon to prison may expose him
to hardened criminals who might influence him to be a more hardened criminal than before;
3. Engagement of Community Involvement. - Rehabilitation can be more effective with the
help of the members of the community;
4. Assurance of Individualized Treatment Approach.
These programs provide individualized treatment program for the convicts which is if not
available, it is hard to attain correctional institution; and
5. It is more economical than institution-based correction on the part of the government.

G. Purposes and Functions of Community-based Corrections

The purposes of Community-based Corrections are:
1. Facilitating Convicts Reintegration;
2. Fostering Convicts Rehabilitation;
3. Providing an Alternating Range of Convicts Punishments; and
4. Heightening Convicts Accountability.
On the other hand, the functions of Community-based Corrections are:
1. Client monitoring and supervision to ensure program compliance;
2. Ensuring Public Safety;
3. Employment Assistance;
4. Individual and Group Counseling;
5. Educational Training and Literacy Services;
6. Networking with other community agencies and businesses; and
7. Reducing jail and prison overcrowding.

H. Current Issues and Concerns on Community -based Correction

Community-based Corrections have many issues and concerns, such as:
1. Public resistance against Non-Institutional Corrections;
2. Punishment against rehabilitation and reintegration;
3. Convicted individual needs safety as well as the public;
4. Availability of Rehabilitation Services;
5. Education and training for rehabilitation service providers; and
6. Coping with special needs of the convicts.
LESSON 2. DIFFERENT FORMS OF EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY
Executive Clemency - It refers to the COMMUTATION OF SENTENCE, ABSOLUTE
PARDON, AND CONDITIONAL PARDON, with or without the parole conditions, as may be
granted by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Board of Pardon
and Parole. It may also refer to commutation of sentence and reprieve.

Person Disqualified for Executive Clemency

Prisoners are not considered for commutation of sentence or conditional pardon if:
1. The petitioner is available for Parole;

2. The prisoner is sentenced to another prison term within (1) one year from the date of his last
re commitment of the jail or prison from where he escaped;
3. The prisoner had violated any conditions of his discharge on Parole or
Conditional Pardon; and
4. The prisoner is suffering from mental illness or disorder as certified by a government
psychiatrist.

A. Amnesty
Amnesty. - The act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large
group of individuals. A sovereign act or forgetfulness (from Greek Amnesia, "Forgetfulness")
granted by the government, especially to a group of persons who are guilty of (usually political)
crimes in the past. It is often conditional upon the group's return to obedience and duty within a
prescribed period.
The purpose of amnesty is to hasten a country's return to political normalcy by putting behind it
the anomalies of the past through a pardon that will open the door to living normal lives for
groups of people targeted by the amnesty.
These groups were once involve in political activities during certain troubled times like war or
rebellion and by making a gesture of the state forgetting past destructive activities of political
dissidents or rebels and allowing them to lead normal lives, the country in return will ensure its
return to normalcy.
Characteristics of Amnesty
1. It is the proclamation of the Chief Executive with the concurrence of the Congress, hence, it is
a public act which the court should take judicial notice;
2. Amnesty can be granted before and after the institution of the criminal prosecution and
sometimes after conviction;
3. Granted to classes of persons or communities who may be guilty of political offenses; and
4. Amnesty looks backward and abolishes and puts into oblivion the offense itself, it so
overlooks and obliterates the offense with which he is charge that the person release by
amnesty stands before the law precisely as though he had committed no offense.
B. Commutation of Sentence
Commutation of Sentence. - It refers to the reduction of the duration of a prison
sentence. The reduction of a sentence for a criminal act by action of the executive head
of the government. Like pardon, commutation of sentence is a matter of grace, not of
right; it is distinguished from pardon, however, in that the conviction of crime is not
nullified. The commutation, hence, may be granted on condition that the criminal
observe certain restrictions for the balance of his original sentence. Many states have
statutes providing for commutation of sentence as a reward for good conduct during
imprisonment.
Once earned, the commutation becomes a matter of right and may be enforced by court
action.
Commutation of sentence also benefits inmates sentenced to a fixed or determinate
sentence, which renders him or her ineligible for parole.
Commutation of sentence changes the original fixed sentence to a lesser indeterminate
sentence, which will then enable the beneficiary to be release on parole. Commutation
is also appropriate to use with convicts sentenced to several counts. The sentence may
be commuted to one single indeterminate sentence through commutation and rendering
the recipient to avail of parole after serving the minimum sentence.
1. Purposes of Commutation
i. To break the rigidity of the law.
ii. To extend parole in cases where the parole law do not apply.
iii. To save the life of a person sentenced to death.
2. Conditions for a Sentence to be commuted
i. The petitioner must have served at least one-third (1/3) of the minimum
indeterminate sentence or the following portions of his prison sentence
constituting the Reclusion Perpetua;
ii. At least ten (10) years if convicted of robbery with Homicide. Rob berry with
Rape or Kidnapping with Murder;
iii. At least eight (8) years if convicted of simple murder. Parricide, rape or
violation of anti-drug laws;
iv. At least twelve (12) years if given two (2) or more sentence for Reclusion
Perpetua;
v. At least twenty (20) years in case of (1) death sentence which was
automatically commuted to Reclusion Perpetua; and
vi. At least twenty-five (25) years in case of two (2) sentences of Reclusion Perpetua.
C. Reprieve. - The act of postponing the enforcement of a sentence, particularly a
death sentence, to allow an appeal.
Reprieve is also another prerogative exercised by the President of the
Philippines. Generally, it is applied to death sentences already affirmed by the
Supreme Court. But it can also be invoked in another cases that have become
final. Reprieve is a temporary stay of the execution of a sentence. In death
sentences, the date of execution of the convict is held in abeyance for a certain
period to enable the Chief to temporarily stay execution of sentence.
Like pardon, the President can only exercise reprieve when the sentence has
become final. Generally, reprieve is extended to death penalty prisoners. The
date of execution of sentence is temporarily postponed indefinitely to enable the
Chief Executive to thoroughly study the petition of the condemned man for
commutation of sentence or pardon.

D. Remit Fines and Forfeitures. - Prevents the collection of fines or the

confiscation of forfeited property; it cannot have the effect of returning property which
has been vested in third parties or money already in public treasury.

LESSON 3. PROBATION
Probation - Probation as a term and as a procedure is derived from the Latin
word "PROBARE" meaning to PRAVE. Therefore, as the term Latin Etymology
states, probation involves the testing of an offender and proving that he's worth of
his freedom. It is a procedure whereby the sentence of an offender is suspended,
while he is permitted to remain in the community, subject to the control of the
court and under the supervision and guidance of probation officers. A disposition
under which a defendant, after conviction and sentence, is released subject to
conditions imposed by the court and to the supervision of probation officers.
Probationer - It means a person placed on probation.
Probation Officer - It means one who investigates for the court a referral for
probation or supervises a probationer or both; and performs other related duties
as directed.
Petitioner - A convicted defendant who files a formal application for probation.

A. Basic Concepts on Probation

The following are the basic concepts of Probation:
1. As a system of instruction. - The probationer will be placed under the supervision
of probation officer who shall be directly in charge of supervising and monitoring the
progress of the rehabilitation program based on the conditions imposed by the court.
Such control of the court shall be considered continuing in character until such time that
the court orders the discharge from probation of the convict.
2. Suspended Imposition of Sentence. - Probation consists of the conditional
suspension of the execution of sentence while the convict is placed under suspension
and is given individual guidance and treatment programs.
3. Provision for Individualize Treatment Program. - The basic purpose for probation
is to provide an individualized treatment program offering a first time or unhardened
convict as an opportunity to be rehabilitated without institutional confinement or
imprisonment, under the tutelage of a probation officer and under the continuing power
of the court to impose institutional punishment for his original offense in the event that
he abuse such opportunity, and courts have a wide direction to accomplish such intent.

B. Forerunners of Probation
Probation was first legally established in the United States, but to trace its origins, it is
important to know the earlier schemes for humanizing criminal justice under the
common law of England. These procedures were found in the laws and customs of
England and were adopted by the colonists who settled in the easter shores of United
States. Probation as a practice is believed to have been the product of the following
olden practices, such as:
1. Money Compensation. - Which is a precursor of our use of fines and restitution
today, introduced by the Laws of Babylon, Greece and Rome, for those crimes which
did not affect the safety of the state.
Slaves having nothing of value to offer as compensation received unmitigated cruel
punishments.
2. Cities of Refuge. - Sanctuaries where the accused was safe pending in an
investigation of his criminal responsibility, introduced by the Jewish law for those who
killed without premeditation. The Jews also gives some consideration for the individual
in lesser penalties for impulsive offenses than for planned murder.

3. Benefits of the Clergy. - Dating back to the reign of HENRY III the
13th century. It originated in a compromise with the church which had maintained that a
member of the clergy brought to trial in a king's court might be claimed by the bishop or
chaplain representing him on the ground that the prisoner was subject to the authority of
the ecclesiastical court only.
4. Judicial Reprieve. - Judicial reprieve is a device of modifying the severity of the law,
by temporary suspension of the sentence. This practice was much used by the early
English judges and grew up at a time when new trials or appeals to another court were
impossible under the common law, but it continued in use thereafter. Early in the 17th
century with the establishment of settlement in America, English Courts began to grant
reprieves to prisoners under sentence of death on condition that they accept
deportation.
5. Recognizance. - This is an older method of suspending or deferring judgment, for
good behavior. This was based in an ancient practice developed in England in the 14th
century. It originated as a measure of preventive justice, involving an obligation or
promise, sworn to under court order by a person not yet convicted but though likely from
the information before the court to have commit a crime that he would keep the peace
and be for good behavior. It is the direct ancestor of probation.
The earliest recorded use of recognizance in the United States occurred in 1830 in a
Massachusetts courtroom in the case of the
COMMONWEALT VS. CHASE. Presiding Judge OXENBRIDGE THATCHER of the
Municipal Court of Boston set forth the nature of recognizance:
6. Banishment/Transportation. - This is a form of punishment which is done by
indenturing the convicts to penal colonies where they serve as slave until they
completed their service of sentence. Transportation of offenders to penal colonies was
practiced principally by European Countries that had acquired distant colonies because
of the need to import labor into these colonies.