Out of court disposals

Out of court disposals (OOCDs) is the term used for a range of pre-charge sanctions imposed by the police and other enforcement agencies to deal with low level, and often first time, offending. Currently, there are six OOCD options including simple cautions, conditional cautions, cannabis and khat warnings, community resolutions and penalty notices for disorderly behaviour. See Practice Note: Alternatives to prosecution for adults.

While OOCDs provide a valuable tool in dealing with minor offences without recourse to the courts, a government consultation in 2013/2014 recognised the need for reform. It concluded, among other things, that the current OOCDs system is unnecessarily complicated and fails to provide meaningful consequences for offenders or to reduce reoffending. Feedback also highlighted that the current system has become unwieldy and is used inconsistently between different police forces.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (PCSCA 2022) will overhaul the current OOCDs framework by replacing it with a statutory two-tier system which introduces two types of cautions—diversionary and community—both of which must have conditions attached.