An article examined lessons from a range of initiatives aimed at increasing public and sentencers' confidence in community sentences over the previous five years. In particular it addressed the question of what more could be done to boost confidence in a way which contributed more directly to the replacement of short terms of imprisonment by community sentences.
Source: Rob Allen, 'Changing public attitudes to crime and punishment – building confidence in community penalties', Probation Journal, Volume 55 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Dec
An official advisory body began consultation on the principles that should guide courts when sentencing those under the age of 18 convicted of a criminal offence.
Source: Sentencing Principles: Youths – Consultation Paper, Sentencing Advisory Panel (020 7035 5158)
Links: Consultation document | SAP press release
Date: 2008-Dec
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on sentencing policy. It rejected the idea that the increase in the prison population in recent years was simply due to an increase in sentencing severity.
Source: Government Response to the Justice Select Committee's Report: Towards Effective Sentencing, Cm 7476, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report | MOJ press release | Nacro press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A joint inspectorate report criticized the scope, implementation, and impact of the new indeterminate sentences – IPP for adults and DPP for children and young people – introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and available from April 2005. Vulnerable children held in custody on indeterminate sentences were not being given the vital support they needed to obtain release.
Source: The Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection: A thematic review, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (020 7035 2103) and HM Chief Inspector of Probation
Links: Report | Nacro press release | PRT press release | SCMH press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report by a committee of MPs said that the rise of the prison population in England and Wales indicated a wider problem with sentencing policy. A 'complex and incomplete' framework had resulted from excessive amounts of criminal justice legislation, and a lack of time for new types of sentences to settle in. The government had not learned vital lessons from previous experience, and needed to adopt a strategic approach to sentencing.
Source: Towards Effective Sentencing, Fifth Report (Session 2007-08), HC 184, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Parole Board press release | PRT press release | SCMH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that the government should reject US-style sentencing grids in favour of establishing a permanent sentencing commission capable of ending the prison capacity crisis and reversing the 'excessive politicization' of sentencing.
Source: Mike Hough and Jessica Jacobson, Creating a Sentencing Commission for England and Wales: An opportunity to address the prisons crisis, Prison Reform Trust (020 7251 5070)
Links: Report | PRT press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A report by an official working group recommended the creation of an enhanced Sentencing Guidelines Council in England and Wales, combining the existing Council and the Sentencing Advisory Panel in one body; the collection of more data on sentencing practice; placing a duty on the SGC to estimate the effect of its guidelines on the prison population and other correctional resources; and obliging the government, when introducing a Bill or launching a new policy, to invite the SGC to assess its impact on correctional resources.
Source: Sentencing Commission Working Group, Sentencing Guidelines in England and Wales: An Evolutionary Approach, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Nacro press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2008-Jul
The government began consultation on proposals to reform the law on homicide, designed to make it much harder for those who killed out of anger to avoid a murder conviction by claiming that they were provoked. It proposed the abolition of the existing partial defence of provocation, and its replacement with two new partial defences: killing in response to a fear of serious violence; and (in exceptional circumstances only) killing in response to words and conduct which caused the defendant to have a justifiable sense of being seriously wronged.
Source: Murder, Manslaughter and Infanticide: Proposals for Reform of the Law, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500) and Home Office
Links: Consultation document | MOJ press release | ACPO press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jul
An official advisory body began consultation on the general principles that should guide the courts when they were sentencing criminal offenders.
Source: Overarching Principles of Sentencing, Sentencing Advisory Panel (020 7035 5158)
Links: Consultation document | SAP press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jul
A government report said that tough community sentences had a real impact on reducing crime and preventing offenders from re-offending.
Source: Community Sentencing: Reducing Reoffending, Changing Lives, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | MOJ press release | SCMH press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2008-Jun
An official advisory body began consultation on sentencing for breaches of anti-social behaviour orders. It said that sentences should first and foremost reflect the level of harassment, alarm, or distress caused by an offender. The most serious cases – in which first-time adult offenders used violence or intimidation, made significant threats, or targeted individual or groups in a way that provoked fear of violence – should attract custodial sentences of up to 2 years.
Source: Breach of an Anti-Social Behaviour Order: Consultation Guideline, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Consultation document | SAP advice | SGC press release
Date: 2008-May
Revised magistrates' court sentencing guidelines were published for England and Wales. The revised guidelines dealt with a greater number of offences, and took into account the Criminal Justice Act 2003.
Source: Magistrates' Court Sentencing Guidelines: Definitive guideline, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Guidance | SGC press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-May
The government announced (in the draft Queen's Speech) plans to introduce a Law Reform, Victims and Witnesses Bill, designed to reform some aspects of the criminal law on homicide; and to improve provisions in courts for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. Prison sentences would be set nationally by an independent body, which would take into account the amount of space available in jails.
Source: Preparing Britain for the Future: The government's draft legislative programme, Cm 7372, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft Queens Speech | Amendments | MOJ press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-May
The Court of Appeal ruled that a decision by the Home Secretary to block the release of a prisoner on licence, as recommended by the Parole Board, breached the Human Rights Act. The government said that it would appeal to the House of Lords. The ruling applied to prisoners sentenced to more than 15 years under the 1991 Criminal Justice Act.
Source: Black, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice, Court of Appeal 15 April 2008
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Apr
An official advisory body began consultation on sentences for theft offences (excluding domestic burglary). It said that offenders who targeted elderly victims and stole from them on the street or in their homes should face custodial sentences. Targeting vulnerable community premises such as schools, places of worship, and doctors' surgeries might result in a higher than usual degree of harm in terms of inconvenience caused, and should be regarded as an aggravating factor.
Source: Theft and Burglary (Non-dwelling): Consultation Guideline, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Consultation document | SGC press release | SAP advice (1) | SAP advice (2) | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Mar
Official guidelines set out a series of factors that would specifically aggravate assaults and should result in more severe sentences. These included: offenders operating in gangs or groups; the deliberate targeting of vulnerable victims or choosing isolated places for carrying out an attack; attacks on victims working in the public sector or providing a service to the public.
Source: Assault and Other Offences Against the Person, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Guidance | SGC press release | MOJ press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Feb
Official sentencing guidelines were published relating to assaults on children and the offence of cruelty to a child. Where a child was the victim and the offender an adult, custody would normally result, particularly where the offence involved an abuse of trust. Where an offender only intended to administer lawful chastisement and relatively minor injury resulted that was neither foreseen nor intended, custody would not normally be appropriate.
Source: Overarching Principles: Assaults on Children and Cruelty to a Child, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Guidance | SGC press release | MOJ press release
Date: 2008-Feb
An article examined recent research on community penalties, and in particular the contribution of Home Office research. A perceived need for information management might be leading to an unhelpful narrowing of methodological choices. This approach risked neglecting features of community sentences which required investigation, and at worst could encourage a drift back towards a belief that 'nothing works'.
Source: Peter Raynor, 'Community penalties and Home Office research: on the way back to "nothing works"?', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 8 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jan