Defendants who plead guilty at the earliest stage could receive a 50% reduction in their sentence, under government proposals outlined today in a green paper on the sentencing and rehabilitation of offenders.

The plan is designed to tackle the problem that the paper calls ‘one of the worst inefficiencies’ in the court system – the fact that more than two-thirds of cases that reach the Crown court end in a guilty plea, wasting time and money and increasing the trauma of victims and witnesses.

The paper also suggests measures to simplify and reduce the ‘mass’ of criminal justice legislation, and make sentencing more straightforward and transparent.

Restricting the use of indeterminate prison sentences, enhancing judicial discretion and extending the use of bail for suspects are among the proposals, which the government claims is a ‘radical reform’ of the criminal justice system to punish criminals more effectively and reduce re-offending.

The paper sets out plans to break the cycle of crime and prison by making prisoners work hard while in jail, and opening up the provision of rehabilitation programmes to the private and charitable sector, who will be paid by results.

Tougher community punishments will be introduced, along with new measures to force criminals to make amends to victims and communities for the harm they have caused.

However, the paper emphasises that short-term sentences will not end, stating they will ‘remain an important tool for magistrates, particularly for recidivist criminals who have not responded to community punishments or fines’.

Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said: ‘The green paper is an important change of direction in penal policy which will put more emphasis on reducing re-offending without reducing the punishment of offenders.’

‘By reforming criminals and turning them away from a life of crime, we will break the cycle. This will mean fewer crimes, fewer victims and safer communities,’ he said.

Law Society president Linda Lee said she welcomed the government's emphasis on sentencing that works to rehabilitate people and protect the community, rather than using prison as a ‘blanket answer’.

In particular, she supported the proposal to reduce indeterminate prison sentences, which she said have increased the prison population without being the best answer for society.

Lee said increasing the sentencing discount for early guilty pleas would encourage the guilty to admit guilt as early as possible, thereby saving case trial preparation costs, but she warned that safeguards and due process rights must still apply.