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 2017 update to the Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines
24 February 2020This report will contain findings from an assessment of the impact on sentences of the 2017 update to the Magistrates’ Read More
Changes to sentencing guidelines for driving offences disqualifications proposed
22 January 2020The Sentencing Council has launched a public consultation on proposed revisions to sentencing guidelines for driving offences disqualifications, breach of Read More
Revised drug sentencing guidelines proposed to reflect changes in offending
15 January 2020Plans to revise sentencing guidelines for drugs offences in England and Wales were published for consultation today by the Sentencing Read More