Out of Court Disposals

There are several alternatives to formal charges available to police and CPS when dealing with adults, including cannabis and khat warnings, penalty notices for disorder, community resolution, simple cautions and conditional cautions.

Local authorities and other land managers can also issue fixed penalty notices as an alternative to prosecution for certain environmental and other anti-social behaviour offences.

Enforcing authorities may set the amount of fixed penalties for anti-social behaviour up to a statutory maximum of £100.

Enforcing authorities set their own level of fixed penalty for environmental offences, within the ranges specified in the Environmental Offences (Fixed Penalties) (England) Regulation 2017. A statutory default penalty amount may also apply if the enforcing authority has not specified a local fixed penalty amount.

To encourage prompt payment, enforcing authorities may offer recipients a reduction in the penalty if paid within 14 days.  The minimum discounted penalty for environmental offences is also set out in the relevant legislation.

A cannabis or khat warning may be given where the offender is found in possession of a small amount of cannabis or khat consistent with personal use and the offender admits the elements of the offence. The drug is confiscated and a record of the warning will be made on local systems. The warning is not a conviction and should not be regarded as an aggravating factor when sentencing for subsequent offences.

Guideline users should be aware that the Equal Treatment Bench Book covers important aspects of fair treatment and disparity of outcomes for different groups in the criminal justice system. It provides guidance which sentencers are encouraged to take into account wherever applicable, to ensure that there is fairness for all involved in court proceedings.

A simple caution may be issued where there is evidence that the offender has committed an offence, the offender admits to the offence, it is not in the public interest to prosecute and the offender agrees to being given the caution.

When sentencing an offender who has received a simple caution on a previous occasion:

• the caution is not a previous conviction and, therefore, is not a statutory aggravating factor;
• however, the caution will form part of the offender’s criminal record and if the caution is recent and is relevant to the current offence it may be considered to be an aggravating factor.

Guideline users should be aware that the Equal Treatment Bench Book covers important aspects of fair treatment and disparity of outcomes for different groups in the criminal justice system. It provides guidance which sentencers are encouraged to take into account wherever applicable, to ensure that there is fairness for all involved in court proceedings.

A conditional caution (Criminal Justice Act 2003, s.22) requires an offender to comply with conditions, as an alternative to prosecution. The conditions that can be attached must be rehabilitative, reparative and/or a financial penalty. (If the offender is a “relevant foreign offender” – that is someone without permission to enter or stay in the UK, conditions can be offered that have the object of effecting departure from and preventing return to the UK.) Before the caution can be given, the offender must admit the offence and consent to the conditions.

When sentencing an offender who has received a conditional caution in respect of an earlier offence:

• a conditional caution is not a previous conviction and, therefore, is not a statutory aggravating factor;
• however, if the conditional caution is recent and is relevant to the current offence it may be considered to be an aggravating factor;
• the offender’s response to the caution may properly influence the court’s assessment of the offender’s suitability for a particular sentence, so long as it remains within the limits established by the seriousness of the current offence.

Approach to sentencing for offence for which offender was cautioned but failed to comply with conditions

If the offender fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with the conditional caution, he or she may be prosecuted for the original offence. When sentencing in such a case:

• the offender’s non-compliance with the conditional caution does not increase the seriousness of the original offence and must not be regarded as an aggravating factor;
• the offender’s non-compliance may be relevant to selection of the type of sentence. For example, it may indicate that it is inappropriate to include certain requirements as part of a community order. The circumstances of the offender’s failure to satisfy the conditions, and any partial compliance, will be relevant to this assessment.

Guideline users should be aware that the Equal Treatment Bench Book covers important aspects of fair treatment and disparity of outcomes for different groups in the criminal justice system. It provides guidance which sentencers are encouraged to take into account wherever applicable, to ensure that there is fairness for all involved in court proceedings.

Penalty notices may be issued as an alternative to prosecution in respect of a range of offences. Unlike conditional cautions, an admission of guilt is not a prerequisite to issuing a penalty notice.

An offender who is issued with a penalty notice may nevertheless be prosecuted for the offence if he or she:

• asks to be tried for the offence; or
• fails to pay the penalty within the period stipulated in the notice and the prosecutor decides to proceed with charges.

In some cases of non-payment, the penalty is automatically registered and enforceable as a fine without need for recourse to the courts. This procedure applies to penalty notices for disorder and fixed penalty notices issued in respect of certain road traffic offences but not to fixed penalty notices issued for most other criminal offences.

When sentencing in cases in which a penalty notice was available:

• the fact that the offender did not take advantage of the penalty (whether that was by requesting a hearing or failing to pay within the specified timeframe) does not increase the seriousness of the offence and must not be regarded as an aggravating factor. The appropriate sentence must be determined in accordance with the sentencing principles set out in this guidance (including the amount of any fine, which must take an offender’s financial circumstances into account), disregarding the availability of the penalty;
• where a penalty notice could not be offered or taken up for reasons unconnected with the offence itself, such as administrative difficulties outside the control of the offender, the starting point should be a fine equivalent to the amount of the penalty and no order of costs should be imposed. The offender should not be disadvantaged by the unavailability of the penalty notice in these circumstances. Please refer to the list of offences for which penalty notices are available, and the amount of the penalty.

Where an offender has had previous penalty notice(s), the fact that an offender has previously been issued with a penalty notice does not increase the seriousness of the current offence and must not be regarded as an aggravating factor. It may, however, properly influence the court’s assessment of the offender’s suitability for a particular sentence, so long as it remains within the limits established by the seriousness of the current offence.

Guideline users should be aware that the Equal Treatment Bench Book covers important aspects of fair treatment and disparity of outcomes for different groups in the criminal justice system. It provides guidance which sentencers are encouraged to take into account wherever applicable, to ensure that there is fairness for all involved in court proceedings.

Community resolution is an informal non-statutory disposal used for dealing with less serious crime and anti-social behaviour where the offender accepts responsibility. The views of the victim (where there is one) are taken into account in reaching an informal agreement between the parties which can involve restorative justice techniques.

When sentencing an offender who has received a community resolution for an earlier offence:

• A community resolution is not a conviction and is therefore not a statutory aggravating factor, but if recent and relevant to the offence it may be considered to be an aggravating factor.

The tables below list the offences for which penalty notices are available and the amount of penalty. Consult your legal adviser for further guidance.

Penalty notices for disorder

Fixed penalty notices

Fixed Penalty Notices - Environmental and anti-social behaviour offences (updated 31 July 2023)