Jargon Buster - Youth Rehabilitation Order (YRO)

What does it mean? The YRO was introduced as part of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act in May 2008, and will be implemented in Autumn 2009. The order will replace all of the current community sentences, such as the Curfew Order and the Exclusion Order, and combine them to make one generic community sentence. This means that sentencing will be simpler in theory, and youth offending teams will have more flexibility in terms of how they help young offenders. For instance, under the present regime the Curfew Order is dealt with using the Curfew Requirement. Courts will now be able to select from a menu of interventions to suit the crime and the young offender in question and there is no restriction on the number of times an offender can be sentenced to a YRO. This should allow courts to construct a sentence thought most likely to prevent the young person reoffending.