Tuesday 08 Jul 2008 @ 10:31
Sentencing Council
Sentencing Council
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Sentencing Advisory Panel Launches Major Consultation into Principles of Sentencing
The Sentencing Advisory Panel has today launched a major consultation to explore
current thinking on the principles that should guide our courts when they are sentencing criminal offenders .
Key questions include the circumstances in which custodial sentences should be imposed, what impact previous convictions should have on sentences, what weight should be given to all the different factors of an offence that might appear to make it more or less serious and whether the particular vulnerabilities of women offenders should have any impact on the approach to sentencing
The Panel is carrying out the consultation at the request of the Sentencing Guidelines Council as part of a review of current sentencing principles. Following the consultation, the Panel will offer the Council advice on enhancing and refining those principles, if necessary.
Chairman of the Panel, Professor Andrew Ashworth, said: “The time is right for a major debate on the general principles of sentencing.
“There is currently a great deal of media and public interest in criminal offending and the sentences imposed by the courts. As a result, there are significant pressures on sentencers to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done. This consultation is designed to review the principles on which a court’s decision is based.
“The Panel’s approach is firmly grounded on principles of fairness and proportionality. At the heart of this consultation is the central issue: in what circumstances should an offender be given a custodial sentence?”
To support the consultation the Panel is commissioning independent research to identify the public’s views on what factors make an offence serious and the circumstances in which an offence is sufficiently serious to warrant a custodial sentence or a community order.
The research will include both qualitative and quantitative surveys of the public and round table discussions involving practitioners in the criminal justice system, academics and others with an interest in sentencing.
“Criminal sentencing is a matter of significant public interest; it will touch almost everyone at some point in their lives. Social attitudes to criminality and justice change over time and we need to make sure we have an up-to-date understanding of public opinion.
I want to stress that we have not made up our minds; we are not making proposals to sentencers. What we are seeking to do is engage as many people as possible in an informed debate so that our advice to the Sentencing Guidelines Council is based on sound research and makes sensible, workable proposals,” said Professor Ashworth.
Notes to editors:
The Sentencing Advisory Panel is an independent advisory and consultative body
which was established in 1999. The Panel offers advice on general sentencing principles, sentencing of specific offences as well as allocation (the choice of court venue – magistrates’ court or the Crown Court). Chaired by Professor Andrew Ashworth, the Panel has 12 members. Details of current membership can be found at www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk
Copies of this consultation paper may be obtained from: Gareth Sweny, Sentencing
Guidelines Secretariat, 4th Floor, 8-10 Great George Street, London SW1P 3AE. The
document is available also on the sentencing guidelines website: www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk
The closing date for responses is 28 October 2008.
current thinking on the principles that should guide our courts when they are sentencing criminal offenders .
Key questions include the circumstances in which custodial sentences should be imposed, what impact previous convictions should have on sentences, what weight should be given to all the different factors of an offence that might appear to make it more or less serious and whether the particular vulnerabilities of women offenders should have any impact on the approach to sentencing
The Panel is carrying out the consultation at the request of the Sentencing Guidelines Council as part of a review of current sentencing principles. Following the consultation, the Panel will offer the Council advice on enhancing and refining those principles, if necessary.
Chairman of the Panel, Professor Andrew Ashworth, said: “The time is right for a major debate on the general principles of sentencing.
“There is currently a great deal of media and public interest in criminal offending and the sentences imposed by the courts. As a result, there are significant pressures on sentencers to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done. This consultation is designed to review the principles on which a court’s decision is based.
“The Panel’s approach is firmly grounded on principles of fairness and proportionality. At the heart of this consultation is the central issue: in what circumstances should an offender be given a custodial sentence?”
To support the consultation the Panel is commissioning independent research to identify the public’s views on what factors make an offence serious and the circumstances in which an offence is sufficiently serious to warrant a custodial sentence or a community order.
The research will include both qualitative and quantitative surveys of the public and round table discussions involving practitioners in the criminal justice system, academics and others with an interest in sentencing.
“Criminal sentencing is a matter of significant public interest; it will touch almost everyone at some point in their lives. Social attitudes to criminality and justice change over time and we need to make sure we have an up-to-date understanding of public opinion.
I want to stress that we have not made up our minds; we are not making proposals to sentencers. What we are seeking to do is engage as many people as possible in an informed debate so that our advice to the Sentencing Guidelines Council is based on sound research and makes sensible, workable proposals,” said Professor Ashworth.
Notes to editors:
The Sentencing Advisory Panel is an independent advisory and consultative body
which was established in 1999. The Panel offers advice on general sentencing principles, sentencing of specific offences as well as allocation (the choice of court venue – magistrates’ court or the Crown Court). Chaired by Professor Andrew Ashworth, the Panel has 12 members. Details of current membership can be found at www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk
Copies of this consultation paper may be obtained from: Gareth Sweny, Sentencing
Guidelines Secretariat, 4th Floor, 8-10 Great George Street, London SW1P 3AE. The
document is available also on the sentencing guidelines website: www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk
The closing date for responses is 28 October 2008.
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