Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, community service orders are sentences in their own right.  They are used in addition to or in place of other sentences.  All courts are provided with the option of ordering sentences of unpaid work to any offender over the age of 14 who has been convicted of a crime that is punishable by imprisonment.  Before imposing the order, the judge must receive the offender’s consent, determine whether the offender is able to perform community service, and ensure that there is community service work available for the offender.

Those involved in Hong Kong community service avoid stigmatizing their community service participants by labeling them “community service workers” rather than “offenders.”  When compared to probation orders, it was found that in Hong Kong, the rate of reconviction after three years is much lower for those offenders participation in community service than in probation.

The alternatives to imprisonment in Hong Kong can be divided into two categories: residential and nonresidential.  Residential treatments involve such organizations as boys or girls homes, detention and training centers, or remand homes.  Nonresidential treatment may include paying of fines, suspended sentences, probation, police supervision, or conditional discharge.  The purpose of alternatives to imprisonment in Hong Kong is to allow the prison management to focus on the classification, care, and rehabilitation of those who are danger to society, rather than on the problem of overcrowding.

India
Prison Reform International recently assisted the State Government of Andhra Pradesh in preparing a proposal for the introduction of community service.  Community service had previously been recommended in India, but a program was never established.  After promoting discussions and examining the community service schemes of other countries, a community service bill was drafted.  In 2003, after lobbying by PRI’s partner, PRAJA, the community service bill was sent to the state legislature.  The goal of the bill was to provide effective ways to avoid delayed justice and prison overcrowding, as well as the “damaging impact of imprisonment on the individual and his/her family.”

Sri Lanka
Community service, along with suspended sentences, was introduced in Sri Lanka in 1973.  Community service orders are mainly used to reduce the large number of offenders who have been sentenced terms of imprisonment because they did not pay fines.  In cases of monetary compensation, the victim has usually experienced fraud.  One way the Department of Prisons tries to reduce the number of inmates is through the use of work camps.  The camps are for inmates who have been sentenced short prison terms and provide training in the areas of “agriculture and animal husbandry.”