A community order is a variety of disposal that can be given by way of sentence in the magistrates’ courts and in the Crown Court. In the Sentencing Code, it is provided that a "community order" is an order that imposes one or more community order requirements. The RAR is one of those requirements.
	Community orders are governed by Chapter 2 of Part 9 (sections 200 to 220) of, and Schedules 9, 10 and 11 to, the Code. Schedule 9 contains detailed provision about the requirements that can be made under the various requirements imposed as part of a community order. Schedule 10 contains provisions about breach, revocation and amendment of community orders. Schedule 11 concerns the transfer of community orders to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
	By virtue of section 200(1) of the Code, a "community order" means an order imposing one or more community order requirements. By section 200(2), those community order requirements are listed in column 1 of the community requirements table. The community requirements table is found in section 201 of the Code. The RAR is listed in the table in section 201 of the Code. That table indicates that Part 2 of Schedule 9 is where to find further detailed provision about the RAR. The table notes no special restrictions on availability as regards the RAR.
	By section 202(1) of the Code, a community order is available to a court by or before which an offender is convicted of an offence if (a) the offender is aged 18 or over when convicted and (b) the offence is punishable with imprisonment by that court. Section 202(2) makes section 202(1) subject to general restrictions which are signposted by sections 202(2)(b) and (c) and section 202(3). It is not necessary to set those out for the purposes of this Act. But note section 202(2)(b) which signposts to section 203 where there is a restriction on making both a community order and a suspended sentence order.
	A suspended sentence is a sentence which can be imposed on an offender where the seriousness of the offence passes the custody threshold but there are factors concerning the offender which justify suspending his custodial sentence. A suspended sentence is treated as a sentence of imprisonment. 1
	A suspended sentence order may specify one or more available community requirements 2 . Section 286(4) provides that these community requirements are listed in column 1 of the community requirements table in section 287, and section 286(5) that further provision about each requirement is made by the provisions of Schedule 9. The requirements listed in the table in section 287 are the same requirements that may be imposed by a community order as listed in section 201. Like the table in section 201, the table in section 287 also contains the RAR. Where a community requirement is imposed under a suspended sentence, the order must specify the supervision period 3 ; and where a suspended sentence specifies one or more community requirements, those must be completed within the supervision period.
	The provision in Schedule 9 relating to the RAR does not make any distinction between a RAR imposed as part of a community order and a RAR imposed as part of a suspended sentence order. Section 290 in relation to suspended sentences prohibits the court from imposing a community order requirement in circumstances where the table in section 287 provides that such a requirement is not available, and section 291 gives more detail about those circumstances. Sections 290 and 291, which are in the same terms as sections 206 and 207 in relation to community orders, likewise do not mention the RAR. Section 292 in relation to suspended sentence orders that impose community requirements states that Schedule 9 applies. Section 292 also has provision about compatibility of multiple community requirements imposed with suspended sentence orders and the need for the court to avoid conflict with the offender’s religious beliefs, any other court order to which the offender is subject and the offender’s work or education.
	The RAR was introduced in the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms intended to allow providers of probation services (Community Rehabilitation Companies, CRCs) greater flexibility to decide on the best ways to rehabilitate low and medium risk individuals. CRCs were set up on a system of ‘payment by results’ and therefore rehabilitative interventions had to be measurable. The RAR legislation therefore set out that the court could specify the maximum number of ‘days’ on which an individual should engage in activity.
	Later, the Sentencing Act 2020 introduced the Sentencing Code which consolidated existing sentencing procedure law. The relevant RAR legislation is set out in the Code.
Legal background Part 1: Sentencing Rehabilitation activity requirement