The Sentencing Act 2020 is a landmark Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. The Act has 14 Parts and 29 Schedules. Parts 2 to 13 of the Act together make up a code called the “Sentencing Code”. The Sentencing Code is the law which contains the main sentencing regime in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

Parliamentary passage

The Act was a

Consolidation Bill A consolidation bill is a bill introduced into the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the intention of consolidating several acts of Parliament or statutory instruments into a single act. Such bills simplify the statute book without signif ...

as recommended by the

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

. It was introduced as a Bill in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

by Lord Keen of Elie,

Advocate General for Scotland His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the The Crown, Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate General for Scotland is a Departments o ...

on 5 March 2020. The Bill was given a second reading in the Lords on 25 June 2020, had its order of commitment discharged on 25 July 2020, given a third reading and passed on 8 September 2020 by the Lords. The Bill was then introduced to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Robert Buckland Sir Robert James Buckland (born 22 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2019 to 2021, and as Secretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022. A member of the Conse ...

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

and

Secretary of State for Justice The secretary of state for justice is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Since the office's inception ...

on 9 September 2020. The Bill was given a second and third reading and passed on 30 September 2020. This was probably the only Bill of this size for a significant period of time to be passed by both Houses without any amendment being made. The Bill was supported and endorsed by many politicians, including most prominently Lord Judge, the former

Lord Chief Justice The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales. Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...

, who commented about how it would improve the location of sentencing law in the United Kingdom for judges.

Sentencing Code

The Sentencing Code consolidates a plethora of legislation relating to sentencing and also sought to stamp out previous legislative ambiguities and inconsistencies. Many Acts were consolidated into and repealed as a consequence of the Sentencing Code. The Sentencing Code has been amended since the enactment of the Sentencing Act 2020 by different acts, including, in particular, the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021 and the

Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (c. 32) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was introduced by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. It gives more power to the police, criminal ...

. Section 3 of the PCSC inserted ' Harpers Law'—which requires a life sentence for manslaughter of an emergency worker, absent extraordinary circumstances—into the Sentencing Code. The Sentencing Code is due to be further amended by the Victims and Prisoners Bill, the Criminal Justice Bill and the Sentencing Bill, the latter of which will make whole life orders mandatory for certain offences.{{Cite web , title=PM announces new plans so society's most depraved killers will face life behind bars , url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-announces-new-plans-so-societys-most-depraved-killers-will-face-life-behind-bars , access-date=2024-01-20 , website=GOV.UK , language=en

References

2020 in British law Criminal law of the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2020