• Commissioner Dilan Gunarathne explains how community-based corrections reduce prison overcrowding, prevent stigma, and help offenders rebuild their lives
• Limits incarceration of minor offenders and consequent risk of exposure to serious crime
• It’s an opportunistic reform within the protective and intact family setting

The community-based corrections system is helping keep thousands of people convicted of minor offences out of prison, easing pressure on an overcrowded prison system and allowing offenders to continue living with their families, and to engage in their day-to-day functions such as education and employment.

The Commissioner of the Community Based Corrections Department, Dilan Gunarathne spoke to The Daily Morning about how the system works, the types of offenders who can be placed under community-based correction orders, and how the programme could help address the country’s prison overcrowding problem.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

What was the Department established for?

The Department was established specifically to reduce prison overcrowding and limit the incarceration of minor offenders. The system allows courts to impose community-based correction orders instead of fines, suspended prison sentences or prison terms of up to two years in eligible cases. The need for such a system became clear decades ago. By 1999, the number of inmates held in prisons had reached 461.7 per cent of the number that the prisons were designed to accommodate. Following a study into the problem, Parliament introduced the Community Based Corrections Act, No. 46 of 1999, allowing courts to issue community-based correction orders in place of certain sentences. The programme began as a pilot project covering the Hulftsdorp, Colombo Fort and Maligakanda Magistrate's Courts (MCs) and was later expanded following its success. The Department was formally established in 2008. Today, community-based correction offices have been established across 127 courts, including High Courts and MCs.

How does the community-based corrections system work?

A person facing a sentence, or their lawyer, can request a community-based correction order. When a suspect is brought before an MC, the Magistrate can also refer that person to a community corrections officer if the Magistrate considers that a community-based correction order may be appropriate. Our officer then interviews the person and prepares a pre-sentence report covering their economic situation, education, family background, social environment and health, among other factors. Based on that assessment, we determine whether the person is suitable to be placed under a community-based correction order.

What happens to someone once a community-based correction order is issued?

We have regional officers and work inspectors attached to the Department. They prepare an individual correction plan for each person placed under a community-based correction order and oversee its implementation. The person is not kept in a particular facility. They remain with their family and in their own community, and take part in programmes arranged by our officers on a weekly basis. They can continue with their normal lives, including their education and employment. At the same time, they are required to take part in programmes such as counselling, guidance, drug prevention, vocational training and spiritual development. Our officers supervise and follow up on them throughout the period of the order and work to help them get back on the right path.

Are there specific time periods during which this process should take place?

There is a specific number of hours that each person must complete under the programme. The number depends on the offence and the sentence involved. It can range from 25 hours to more than 300 hours. Once the person completes the required number of hours, we inform the court that the community-based correction order has been completed. The court can then release the person from the order.

What happens if someone violates the order or commits another offence?

If a person under a community-based correction order commits another offence similar to the offence for which they were sentenced, or acts in a way that violates the order, the order can be cancelled. In such a situation, they may have to pay a fine or could be sent to prison.

What types of offences can be dealt with through community-based corrections?

The programme can be used for people convicted of minor offences who have been given a fine, a suspended sentence or a prison sentence of not more than two yeaRs These include the possession of small quantities of drugs, including less than one gram (g) of heroin, offences involving illicit liquor, disorderly behaviour while under the influence of alcohol, traffic offences, disturbing the public order, theft, fraud, the possession of illegal weapons, the possession of stolen property, gambling, rioting, domestic violence and certain environmental offences.

What do the latest figures related to the community-based correctional system show?

In 2025, a total of 19,203 community-based correction orders were issued. The largest number, 5,850, involved offences related to illicit liquor. There were also 3,844 orders relating to heroin-related offences, 2,892 involving crystal methamphetamine (‘ice’), 2,260 involving cannabis, 1,911 for traffic offences, 638 for gambling and 476 for disorderly behaviour while intoxicated. Of the total, 18,642 were men and 561 were women. The largest age group was those between 26 and 35, with 5,684 people. There were 4,693 people between 36 and 45, 3,731 between 16 and 25, and 3,059 between 46 and 55. Only a small number were over 56. This shows that most people convicted of offences that can be dealt with through community-based corrections are between 16 and 55 years of age. In the first seven months of this year (2026), community-based correction orders had already been issued to 10,351 offenders.

How much does this system help with prison overcrowding?

The biggest benefit is that it reduces prison overcrowding. If a community-based corrections system did not exist, at least 80% to 90% of the people that I mentioned would probably have ended up in prison. There are cases where a person may be unable to pay even a Rs 5,000 fine and consequently has to spend one or two months in prison. The community-based system can prevent that. It also reduces the cost to the Government. Keeping a person in prison involves a significant expense because the State has to provide security, food, medical care and other facilities. Under this system, there is no imprisonment or detention in another facility, so the cost to the Government is much lower. There is also another important benefit. When people convicted of minor offences are sent to prison, there is a risk that they could later become involved in more serious offences because of the people they come into contact with there. That is not to say that this is the fault of the prison system, but, it is a risk. Under community-based corrections, people receive counselling, guidance and support to obtain vocational qualifications and develop skills that can help them move forward.

What difference does it make to the families of offenders?

The system gives people convicted of minor offences an opportunity to reform while continuing to live with their families. That protects the family and prevents its economic situation from collapsing. We know that when a mother or father is imprisoned, children can become vulnerable. Under this system, that situation does not arise because the children don’t lose the presence of their parents. There can also be a degree of social stigma associated with imprisonment. Community-based corrections can help prevent people from facing that kind of situation.

What are the future plans to improve the functions of the Department?

The Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 350 million to the Department to build a fully equipped rehabilitation centre with accommodation for 100 people. However, this will not be a detention centre. It will be used to accommodate people who are heavily dependent on drugs while they receive medical treatment and undergo rehabilitation. In some cases, it is not possible to keep such a person at home during the period of treatment, so they need a place where they can stay until the treatment and rehabilitation process is completed.

How do you support your own officers, given the nature of their work?

Our officers are constantly working in a negative environment, so, we also have to pay attention to their well-being. We regularly conduct training programmes for them. In addition, we organise sports and recreational activities for both community-based correction order beneficiaries and our officers.

How important is the support of the family in helping someone recover?

Family support is extremely important to the community-based corrections process. Take a person who is addicted to drugs, for example. No matter how much the family wants to help, they cannot bring that person out of addiction on their own. Even if our officer is fully committed, the officer cannot do it alone. The family members and our officer have to work together. When the motivation and support provided by the family are combined with the programmes that we introduce and the methods that we develop based on technical knowledge, it becomes much easier to help a person overcome drug addiction.

Are there any areas for improvement within the Department?

It would be a great advantage if we had counselling officers attached directly to our Department. At present, we obtain the support of counsellors from other institutions. Having counsellors assigned specifically to our Department would therefore be very important. We have already informed the relevant authorities about this need, and we expect the necessary steps to be taken in the future.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication