Panel Publishes Final Advice on Sentencing
Council and Panel Publish Final Joint Report
11 March 2010
The Sentencing Advisory Panel (SAP) has published advice on sentencing for domestic burglary and drug offences today. It has also published advice on overarching principles of sentencing, including guidance on taking offences into consideration.
This is the final work of the Panel, which has carried out a key role in the development of sentencing guidelines for the past 10 years. The advice follows wide-ranging consultation including public opinion research.
The SAP and the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC) are to be replaced on April 6 by the Sentencing Council.
Today also marks publication of the two bodies’ final joint annual report, which carries an over-view of their work from the establishment of the Panel in 1999, in the first instance with an advisory role to the Court of Appeal, and from the creation of the Council in 2004.
During this period they have completed guidelines or advice on all key issues of sentencing principle (including domestic violence and the sentencing of youths) and on the majority of offences dealt with by the courts of England and Wales, including a comprehensive set of guidelines for magistrates’ courts and guidelines on sentencing sexual offences, assaults and attempted murder, causing death by driving, fraud and corporate manslaughter.
In his foreword, the Council Chairman, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge reflects on the considerable achievements of the Council and Panel over a ten year period, noting that “there are now guidelines for the vast majority of offences sentenced in magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court”.
Panel Chairman Andrew Ashworth said: “This is the end of an era for the Panel. The substance and style of sentencing guidelines for England and Wales owes a great deal to what the Panel has done as well as to the Council.
“We will all take a great interest in how the guidelines project develops over the coming years.’
Final advice from the Panel includes:
Overarching Principles of Sentencing (plus Offences Taken Into Consideration)
The Panel consulted widely on the key issue of the circumstances in which offenders should be given a custodial sentence and advises that prison sentences of more than two years should be used only in cases where offenders intended serious physical, psychological, financial or social harm.
The advice also covers issues concerning sentencing of women offenders, including the psychological impact of custodial sentences on women, and makes a number of recommendations about the use of custody. The Panel also advises that where an offence committed by a woman merits a community sentence, a court must not impose a prison sentence because of a lack of community sentence provision or difficulty in identifying suitable requirements.
Sentencing for Drug Offences
In determining the seriousness of a drug offence the courts should focus on the quantity of the drug involved (or the scale of the operation) and the role of the offender; the Panel advises a starting point of 12 years custody for the most serious cases.
Offences will be aggravated where offenders used a young person as a courier, supplied or offered to supply close to schools, targeted premises used by vulnerable people or supplied to prisoners.
The advice also deals with the approach to sentencing drug couriers, identifying a particular group which consists of people who are naïve and vulnerable and motivated by need rather than greed whose role in the organisations is minor. The Panel advises that offenders with these characteristics should be treated as “subordinates” in the supply chain.
Sentencing for Domestic Burglary
The Panel’s advice closely follows the approach taken in a recent judgment in the Court of Appeal (the case of Saw), in which the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge said that sentences should reflect the anguish suffered by the victims of domestic break-ins.
Courts should give higher sentences in those cases where an occupier was in the home when the offence was committed or arrived home as the burglary was taking place and in those cases where a child was present or likely to be present in the home.
Note to Editors
The Panel provides advice to the Sentencing Guidelines Council following extensive research and consultation. The advice does not influence decisions in court. The next stage is for the advice to be considered by the Council which produces a draft guideline on which there is further consultation. As a result of the proposed implementation of the provisions in the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (see below), these advices will be considered by the new Sentencing Council in due course rather than by the existing Sentencing Guidelines Council.
Copies of the advice documents and annual report may be obtained from: Sentencing Councilt, 4th Floor, 8-10 Great George Street, London SW1P 3AE.
Further information about the Council, the body responsible for promoting clear, effective and consistent sentencing can be found here.
The provisions creating the Sentencing Council are expected to come into force on April 6. It has a wider remit than the current Sentencing Guidelines Council. It will develop sentencing guidelines, monitor their use and play a key role in influencing a wide range of decisions relating to sentencing. It will also be required to assess the impact on prison, probation and youth offending team resources of sentencing practice and promote awareness of sentencing matters; it may also be required to consider the impact of policy and legislative proposals relating to sentencing.