Sentencing Council

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Sentencing Council
Sentencing Council (England and Wales) logo.png
Agency overview
FormedApril 2010;15 years ago (April 2010)
Preceding agencies
Type Advisory non-departmental public body
Jurisdiction England and Wales
Headquarters The Royal Courts of Justice, London, WC2A 2LL
Employees22 [1] : 69 
Annual budget£1.9 million (2023/24) [1] : 65 
Agency executives
Parent department Ministry of Justice
Key document
Website www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk
Map
England and Wales within the UK and Europe.svg
England and Wales in the UK and Europe

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is a non-departmental public body that is responsible for developing sentencing guidelines, monitoring the use of guidelines and assessing and reviewing a wide range of decisions relating to sentencing. It was established in April 2010 in consequence of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, replacing the Sentencing Guidelines Council and the Sentencing Advisory Panel, its predecessor bodies.

Contents

The Council aims to ensure a consistent approach to sentencing, demystify court processes and sentencing for victims and the public, and increase confidence in the criminal justice system.

The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 gives the Sentencing Council a statutory duty to prepare sentencing guidelines about the discharge of a court's duty under section 73 of the Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17) (reduction in sentence for guilty plea), and sentencing guidelines about the application of any rule of law as to the totality of sentences. It is able to prepare sentencing guidelines about any other matter.

It is also required to consider the impact of sentencing practice and the Government may ask it to look at the impact of policy and legislative proposals relating to sentencing.

The Council comprises eight members of the judiciary and six non-judicial members, all with expertise in the criminal justice system. The Council’s chairman is Lord Justice William Davis, a Court of Appeal judge. All members of the Council are appointed by the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice.

History

The Sentencing Guidelines Council was a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government, created by s.167 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. It gave authoritative guidance on sentencing to the courts of England and Wales. The Council was chaired by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and comprised seven judicial members, appointed by the Lord Chancellor after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the Home Secretary, and four non-judicial members, appointed by the Home Secretary after consultation with the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice.

The seven judicial members had to include a circuit judge, a district judge (magistrates courts) and a lay magistrate. The non-judicial members had to be experienced in policing, criminal prosecution, criminal defence or victim welfare. In April 2010 it became the Sentencing Council (combining also the functions of the Sentencing Advisory Panel). [2] [3]

'Two-tier' guidance controversy

In 2025, the council issued new guidance in England and Wales, planned since 2022, by directing the courts to take into account protected characteristics, such as ethnicity and gender as well as facing the possibility of jail for the first time, a woman or pregnant to consider when a pre-sentence report into an offender's life - which could give an "insight into why an individual fell into crime, their risk of reoffending and the chances for rehabilitation outside of jail" - should be ordered. [4] [5]

The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, criticised the changes and informed the council she would review its powers. [6] Government ministers, opposition politicians, and critics characterised these changes as "two-tier" in nature. [7] [8]

The plans were suspended in March 2025 by the council, following the government planning to introduce a "Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports)" draft bill, which would act to make these changes unlawful. [9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Sentencing Council Annual report 2023/24" (PDF). Sentencing Council. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  2. ↑ "History - Sentencing Council" . Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "The changing structures for sentencing guidelines". Parliament. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Casciani, Dominic (10 March 2025). "Sentencing body defends changes after 'two-tier' row". BBC News .
  5. ↑ "Imposition of community and custodial sentences – Effective from 1 April 2025". Sentencing Council.
  6. ↑ Whannel, Kate (6 March 2025). "Minister threatens law change after 'two-tier' row". BBC News .
  7. ↑ Francis, Sam; Morton, Becky; Zeffman, Henry (5 March 2025). "Call for ministers to overrule 'two-tier' sentencing changes". BBC News .
  8. ↑ Courea, Eleni (6 March 2025). "Ministers criticise 'two-tier' sentencing changes in England and Wales". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 12 March 2025.
  9. ↑ Zeffman, Henry (31 March 2025). "Sentencing guidelines delayed after 'two-tier' row". BBC News .


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