Sentencing Act 2020

Drug rehabilitation requirement: provision for review by court

21 (1) A relevant order imposing a drug rehabilitation requirement—

(a) must include provision for review if the treatment and testing period is more than 12 months, and

(b) may do so in any other case.

(2) For this purpose, “provision for review” means provision—

(a) for the requirement to be reviewed periodically at intervals of not less than one month,

(b) for each review of the requirement to be made at a hearing held for the purpose by the responsible court (a “review hearing”),

(c) requiring the offender to attend each review hearing,

(d) requiring a written report on the offender’s progress under the requirement to be made by an officer of a provider of probation services to the responsible court before each review hearing, and

(e) requiring each such report to include—

(i) the test results communicated to the responsible officer under paragraph 19(7) or otherwise, and

(ii) the views of the treatment provider as to the treatment and testing of the offender.

(3) Paragraphs (b) and (c) of sub-paragraph (2) are subject to paragraph 22(6) (hearing not necessary for review).

(4) In this paragraph, “the responsible court”, in relation to a relevant order imposing a drug rehabilitation requirement, means—

(a) if a court is specified as the responsible court under sub-paragraph (5), that court;

(b) otherwise, the court which made the order.

(5) Where—

(a) a magistrates’ court makes a relevant order imposing a drug rehabilitation requirement, and

(b) the area for which the court acts is not the offender’s home local justice area,

the court may specify in the order a magistrates’ court which acts in the offender’s home local justice area as the responsible court.

(6) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (4)(b), a relevant order imposing a drug rehabilitation requirement which is made on an appeal—

(a) from the Crown Court, or

(b) from the Court of Appeal,

is to be treated as having been made by the Crown Court.