The attorney general has said prosecutors should explain sentences to victims and has issued revised guidelines on plea and sentencing.

Speaking to a conference of Crown Prosecution Service Crown advocates – qualified CPS lawyers in the Crown court - as their superintending minister, Lady Scotland (pictured) said victims and families should fully understand what a sentence means in practice and prosecutors have a key role in explaining this.

She issued a revised version of her guidelines on the acceptance of pleas and the prosecutor’s role in sentencing, which will come into force on 1 December. An audit of sample cases by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate published in November 2008 found that the guidelines, on the way prosecutors agree a basis of plea and prepare the facts of the case to give to the sentencing judge, were not always being complied with.

The revised guidelines will require a written basis of plea to be prepared in every case, except where the prosecution case as it stands is accepted.

However, the requirement to prepare a written document setting out sentencing considerations and relevant case law or guidelines will only need to be prepared where the prosecutor considers that it would assist the court, or where the judge requests it.

On the prosecutor’s role in explaining sentences to victims, the attorney general said: ‘It is an important part of prosecuting counsel’s role to ensure that families are not unnecessarily upset by a sentence because of misunderstandings.’

For example Lady Scotland said indeterminate sentences for public protection are not always understood.

‘The CPS has made great strides in communicating with victims but there is always more to be done. I know that the director of public prosecutions is committed to an active programme of mentoring and training for CPS advocates and prosecutors to enhance the service’s confidence and ability to play a full role in the sentencing process,’ she said.