The section of an Act of Parliament that creates an offence usually sets out the maximum penalty for the offence, which may be either a period of imprisonment or a fine, or both.

The maximum penalty is normally reserved for the worst type of conduct that could constitute the offence and the court can, and usually does, impose lesser penalties than this maximum. The one exception is in the case of murder, where a sentence of life imprisonment is mandatory (that is, no other penalty can be imposed).

The penalties for some specific offences are set out in the Criminal and Traffic Offences chapter.

A court has the ability to sentence a defendant to a term of imprisonment in custody.

Alternative, community based orders can also serve as penalties. These include:

These penalties are in addition to the ability of the court (where appropriate) to:

The powers of the sentencing court are explored further in this chapter.