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A new code to simplify the country’s complex sentencing laws moved a step closer yesterday (22 October 2020) as the Sentencing Act 2020 received Royal Assent.

Presently, some 1,300 pages of complicated and convoluted law exist on sentencing – often making it difficult for judges to identify and apply the law and sometimes leading to mistakes being made.

The Sentencing Code will consolidate this, slashing the law on sentencing procedure by more than half to ensure greater clarity, reduce the risk of errors and improve the efficiency of sentencing hearings. 

It will enable judges and practitioners to concentrate on the sentence itself, rather than the technicalities of the process which can cause unnecessary delays.

It forms part of a wider move by government to boost transparency and understanding of the justice system, which includes legislation passed earlier this year to allow the filming and broadcast of senior judges’ sentencing remarks in the Crown Court.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland QC said:

This is a generational moment. As a former Recorder, I know how hard it can be for judges and practitioners to apply such complex laws.

The new Sentencing Code will help provide much needed clarity, reducing errors and restoring faith that the law is being applied correctly.

The Code does not introduce any new substantive laws or alter the maximum or minimum penalties of offences.

It follows a Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Act, which was given Royal Assent on 8 June. This includes a ‘clean sweep’ of sentencing procedural law, which will mean that once the Code comes into force, all offenders convicted after its commencement will be sentenced according to the most up to date law, irrespective of when the offence was committed.

In 2014, the government agreed that the Law Commission should undertake the ‘Sentencing Code’ project to consolidate sentencing procedural law. The project has been subject to four formal public consultations – receiving backing by judges, lawyers and academics.

Notes to editors

• The Code will come into force on a date specified by a commencement regulation, which will be made in due course.
• In 2014, the government agreed that the Law Commission should undertake a project to consolidate sentencing procedural law.
• The Sentencing Code contains all the procedural law that courts rely on when sentencing offenders and presents it in a more logical order and in simpler terms. These improvements will assist legal professionals in applying the law, thereby reducing the risk of error, appeals and delay in the sentencing process.
• The Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Act 2020, an essential paving measure for the Code, was granted Royal Assent on 8 June 2020.
• In June this year, the government introduced legislation (the Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020) to allow the recording and broadcast of sentencing remarks made by High Court and Senior Circuit judges in the Crown Court. These will be filmed in some of the most high-profile courts across the country, including the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey). Broadcasting sentencing remarks will allow the public to see justice being delivered in the most serious criminal cases, and help increase public understanding of how the courts work and how judicial decisions are made.