Time served

In criminal law, time served describes the duration of pretrial detention (remand), the time period between when a defendant is arrested and when they are convicted. Time served does not include time served on bail but only during incarceration and can range from days to, in rare cases, years.[1]

Time served is often a condition of plea bargains in which in exchange for only receiving a sentence of time served (i.e. no additional time in incarceration), they accept a guilty plea. Often, sentences based on plea bargains with time served also include a probation order, a fine, or unpaid community service.[1]

Statistics from the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council, released in February 2020, show that 67% of people in 2017–18 spend at least one day in remand, up from 47% in 2011–12. In the same year, of the cases that Victorian courts issues imprisonment orders to, 66% exceeded time served (meaning additional time needed to be served), 29% matched time served (meaning no additional imprisonment), and 5% were less than time served (meaning the defendant was over-detained during remand). The council called the over-detention a "matter of concern", as the defendant spend longer in detention than the ultimate duration of the sentence. The council also highlighted that lower courts, such as magistrates' court, tended to give more time served sentences than higher courts.[2]