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.

Synopsis

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. 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 In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process o ...

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 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 and ...

and comprised seven judicial members, appointed by the Lord Chancellor after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

, 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 In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

criminal defence In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

or victim welfare. In April 2010 it became the ''Sentencing Council'' (combining also the functions of the ''Sentencing Advisory Panel''). In March 2025 the Sentencing Council was forced to climb down from its "two-tier" guidelines which would have led to different sentences depending on age, sex and ethnicity. A row erupted in the House of Commons on 1 April over the

Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill Sentencing guidelines define a recommended sentencing range for a criminal defendant, based upon characteristics of the defendant and of the criminal charge. Depending upon the jurisdiction, sentencing guidelines may be nonbinding, or their applic ...

which resulted. In May 2025 the Sentencing Council published a guideline for immigrants-to-be-sentenced. These were criticized by Robert Jenrick MP as too lax. He preferred deportation.

Leadership

* Lord Justice Colman Treacy 11 November 2013 * Lord Justice William Davis 22 July 2022

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

References

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