Reviewed by: Anthony Edwards
Author: Robert Banks
Publisher: Robert Banks
ISBN: 9780955038662
Price: £96

Mrs Justice Rafferty describes Banks on Sentence as simply indispensable. Yet with devastating cuts continuing to be made to public funding for criminal cases, most firms are seeking to remove any unnecessary expenditure from their budgets. Many firms have out of necessity stopped all funding for training and books. To make the decisions more difficult, Banks has now became a two-volume work.

For Crown court advocates, there is no doubt that the original book (now volume 2) is indeed indispensable. The reality is that except for routine offences dealt with in high volume the judge will have referred to Banks before coming in to court and the advocate must know what the judge has read, to be able to identify the differences of the present case and argue for a different outcome.

There had once been a hope that the publication of guidelines would reduce the need to refer to other authorities. Yet many critical criminal offences are still not covered by guidelines and the new-style guidelines, as shown by the first of these on assaults, will clearly increase the room for judicial discretion.

A judge, often facing the threat of appeals by both the Crown and the defence, wants reassurance that they are in the right area and advocates must be no worse informed. The court of appeal asks for fewer references to cases that reflect particular facts rather than points of principle.

For those preparing for first instance hearings, whether as litigator, advocate, or judge the individual factual backgrounds of a series of cases can establish the right bracket for the case with which they are concerned. The work can be done ahead of the hearing and a single copy in each office is essential and will provide both litigator and solicitor-advocate with access to the information that they need.

What then of the new volume. It is a work in progress, critically lacking information on confiscation orders, but it is nonetheless a remarkable piece of work dealing alphabetically with all the orders that can be made by a court, as well as most of the procedures (Newton, Goodyear etc.) followed in criminal cases.

It contains not only statutory material but also judicial guidance and relevant case law. All this material is available elsewhere but here it is collected in extraordinary detail and in very good order. For ease of reference it is difficult to beat: not essential but a worthwhile investment.

For those who work in the magistrates' courts neither volume is essential. Here the magistrates' court guidelines provide much more comprehensive information and the range of circumstances is more limited. Yet all will have cases that will find their way to the Crown court and they need an early answer to the inevitable question as to what sentence the client will receive. Banks is likely to provide a comprehensive answer.

Anthony Edwards is senior partner at TV Edwards

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