Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici said in Parliament on Monday that between 2008 and 2009 the courts handed down 22 orders of community work for a total of 1,970 hours.
He was answering a question by Labour MP Josè Herrera.
Answering another question by Dr Herrera, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that the number of jail sentences shorter than 18 months during the same period amounted to 1,017, made up of 369 in 2008, 403 in 2009 and 245 up to June 4, this year.