The Sentencing Council has postponed guidance that sparked a major political backlash in the face of imminent legislation threatened by the lord chancellor. 

Revised guidance on the imposition of community and custodial sentences was due to come into force today. However, a section stating that pre-sentence reports would normally be considered necessary if the offender is from an ethnic, cultural and/or faith minority community prompted a political outcry. 

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the guidance would create a ‘two-tier’ system. Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood demanded the removal of the full list of cohorts for whom a pre-sentence report will ‘normally be considered necessary’. Her request was rejected, though the Sentencing Council decided to clarify some of the language in the guidance ‘to correct the widespread misunderstanding which has emerged in the last few weeks’.

However, the council said that at a meeting with Mahmood yesterday morning, the lord chancellor ‘indicated her intention to introduce legislation imminently that would have the effect of rendering the section on "cohorts" in the guideline unlawful’. Mahmood also shared details of the draft legislation.

Read more

The Sentencing Council still believes the guideline as drafted is necessary and appropriate, but will not introduce it 'when there is a draft bill due for imminent introduction that would make it unlawful'.

'On that basis, the council, an independent statutory body, has chosen to delay the in-force date of the guideline pending such legislation taking effect,’ the council said.

Legal commentator and Gazette columnist Joshua Rozenberg observed: 'This is clearly a climbdown by both sides, but a dignified one.' With parliament's Easter recess looming, Mahmood would not have been able to get her legislation through parliament much before the end of this month,' he said. 'It would be unsatisfactory for magistrates and judges to have one version of the guidelines in force in March, another in April and a third in May.'

Blogger The Secret Barrister said: ‘Every week I see trials for alleged offences from 2021 being adjourned to 2027 because we don’t have enough courts, judges or barristers to give people justice any quicker. Meanwhile politicians are losing their minds over a guideline which - whatever the merits - will change nothing in practice.’

 

This article is now closed for comment.