The Sentencing Council for England and Wales promotes greater consistency in sentencing, whilst maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The Council produces guidelines on sentencing for the judiciary and criminal justice professionals and aims to increase public understanding of sentencing.
Do not retain this copy. Only the online version of a guideline is guaranteed to be up to date.
How offenders are sentenced in England and Wales
For an overview of how offenders are sentenced, take a look at this short video which gives the basics on what kinds of sentence there are and how judges and magistrates decide what sentence to give.
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Latest from the Sentencing Council
Official statistics pre-announcement: Assessment of the impact of the Dangerous Dog Offences Definitive Guideline
23 September 2020This report will contain findings from an assessment of the impact on sentences of the 2016 update to the Dangerous Read More
Sentencing council publishes new guideline for sentencing offenders with mental disorders
22 July 2020The Sentencing Council has published a new guideline for sentencing offenders with mental disorders, developmental disorders or neurological impairments. The Read More
Sentencing Council: Annual Report 2019/20
14 July 2020Our annual report for 2019/20 was laid before Parliament today. The report is Lord Justice Holroyde’s second as Chairman of Read More