This paper concentrates on the comparation of the Slovak de lege lata legislation on alternative punishments with the legislation in Germany. From among alternative sentences the authors chose the sentence of house arrest and the sentence of community service. The authors focus on a brief historical development of the legal regulation of these alternative punishments, the reason for their introduction into the legal order of individual countries, how they have changed over time and what their current state is. In order to evaluate the legislation of alternative punishments in the chosen countries, the authors use the comparative method and formulate de lege ferenda proposals which can be found at the end of the article.