Sentencing guidelines - user research
Two reports setting out what judges, magistrates and other legal professionals told us about using the online sentencing guidelines
Consultation: motoring offences
We’re seeking views on proposals for six new and revised sentencing guidelines for motoring offences. Open until 22 May 2024
New judicial member appointed
The Council welcomes Her Honour Judge Amanda Rippon, who has been appointed a judicial member of the Council by the Lord Chief Justice, with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor
How can we help you?
Latest from the Sentencing Council
The Council undertakes research and analysis to support the development and monitoring of sentencing guidelines and to ensure they are fit for purpose and meet the needs of guideline users.
Our analysis and research work is an integral part of the guideline development process. We draw on a range of different data sources, as well as undertaking our own research, both quantitative and qualitative, to inform our work.
This roundup summarises some of the research work recently undertaken or commissioned by the Council. We would like to thank all the participants who have contributed to this work, in particular the sentencers whose contributions have helped to make sure that the guidelines are informed by the experience and expertise of the judges and magistrates who use them.
We are always looking for new members for our ‘research pool’ to support our ongoing research. If you are willing to be contacted occasionally to participate in short research exercises, please fill in this short form. Or, to find out more, get in touch with us at research@sentencingcouncil.gov.uk.
A consultation paper on miscellaneous amendments to sentencing guidelines.
The consultation closed on 30 November 2023.
What was this consultation about?
The Sentencing Council sought views on a series of proposed changes to existing guidelines in the third annual miscellaneous amendments consultation.
The proposed changes, which apply to both the magistrates’ courts and Crown Court, are designed to bring greater clarity and consistency and reflect developments in legislation. The Council considers the changes to be significant enough to warrant consultation but not so substantial that they require new guidelines to be drafted.
Who did we ask to respond?
We sought views from anyone who uses sentencing guidelines in their work or who has an interest in sentencing. We also sought views from individuals and organisations representing anyone who could be affected by the proposals, including:
- victims and their families
- defendants and their families
- those under probation supervision or youth offending teams/supervision
- those with protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
What did we want to know?
Through this consultation process, the Council sought views on amendments that included:
- Fraud: amending the Fraud guideline to give more recognition to non-financial impact and situations where there is no or very little financial loss
- Fly-tipping: amending the guideline for sentencing individuals to give greater emphasis to community orders over fines
- Manslaughter: changes relating to: strangulation, suffocation or asphyxiation, and coercive or controlling behaviour
- Remorse: amending the expanded explanation to include ‘learning disability, communication difficulties and cultural differences’ as influential factors in the evaluation of remorse
- Good character and/or exemplary conduct: amending the factor and expanded explanation to remove specific example and make the factor more inclusive
- Determination and/or demonstration of steps having been taken to address addiction or offending behaviour: to clarify that the factor should be applied where support has been sought but not received
- Age and/or lack of maturity: to clarify the age range to which the factor typically applies
- Adding new mitigating factors: Difficult and/or deprived background or personal circumstances and Prospects of or in work, training or education
- Adding new mitigating factor: Pregnancy and maternity
Related documents
- Annex – changes that are not subject to consultation – HTML version
- Annex – changes that are not subject to consultation – PDF version
- Sentencing Council response to the recommendations relating to sentencing guidelines in the Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review (html) (pdf)
The Sentencing Council published a response to recommendations arising from the review of sentencing in domestic homicide cases on 7 September 2023.
The review, conducted by Clare Wade KC and published on 17 March 2023, made six recommendations relating to the Council’s four guidelines for sentencing manslaughter offences and its guideline for sentencing offences committed in a domestic context.
As part of our initial response, the Council decided to consult on proposals for adding an aggravating factor, ‘use of strangulation, suffocation or asphyxiation’ to the four manslaughter guidelines: manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, manslaughter by reason of loss of control, gross negligence manslaughter and unlawful act manslaughter.
We also decided to consult on proposals to include a reference to coercive or controlling behaviour in all manslaughter guidelines responding to the review’s recommendation that the impact of coercive control both by the offender towards the victim and by the victim towards to the offender should be recognised in the guidelines.
These proposals for including factors on strangulation and coercive control in the manslaughter guidelines are included in the 2023 miscellaneous amendments consultation.
The review makes three further recommendations that the Council will consider as part of its current, wider review of the manslaughter guidelines and planned 2024 review of the domestic abuse guideline:
- to amend the manslaughter guidelines to indicate that use of a weapon is not necessarily an aggravating factor
- to amend the unlawful act and gross negligence manslaughter guidelines to categorise as category B, high culpability any killing where death occurs in the course of allegedly consensual violence during a sexual encounter, and
- to include an aggravating factor relating to non-fatal strangulation in the guideline for sentencing offences committed in a domestic context.
The Domestic Homicide Sentencing Review and government response are available on GOV.UK
Minutes of the Sentencing Council meeting on 21 July 2023.
Minutes of meeting: 21 July 2023
The Sentencing Council’s annual report for 2022/23 is Lord Justice William Davis’s first report as Chairman of the Sentencing Council. It documents the Council’s achievements of the year 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 in the context of the objectives we set in our five-year strategy, Sentencing Council strategic objectives 2021-2026.
Our achievements during 2022/23 include:
- publishing new and revised offence specific definitive guidelines:
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- revised guidelines for arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
- a new guideline for the offence of sexual communication with a child
- revised guidelines for domestic, non-domestic and aggravated burglary offences
- revisions to the Council’s 2018 terrorism guidelines to reflect changes introduced by the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 and the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021
- two new guidelines for sentencing retailers – organisations and individuals –who fail to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to prevent the sale of knives to under 18s either in-store or online, and
- revisions to the child cruelty guidelines to reflect new maximum sentences introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act 2022
- holding consultations on sentencing guidelines for:
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- child cruelty offences
- sale of knives etc by retailers to persons under 18
- motoring offences, reflecting the increase in maximum penalties for causing death by dangerous driving and death by careless driving while under the influence of drunk or drugs, and
- animal cruelty offences, reflecting increases in maximum sentences introduced by the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021
We also consulted on draft revisions to the overarching guideline on totality, which sets out the approach for sentencing an offender for more than one offence or where the offender is already serving a sentence.
In September, the Council held its second miscellaneous amendments consultation. These annual consultations allow us to address issues affecting guidelines that arise from case law, commentary on sentencing and feedback from guideline users, as well as from work we have done on other guidelines. Changes resulting from the first miscellaneous amendments consultation came into effect on 1 April 2023.
The report details three externally commissioned research projects we published during the year: a review of current literature on effectiveness of sentencing; an exploration of what drives the public’s attitudes to and understanding of the criminal justice system; and an examination of equality and diversity in the work of the Sentencing Council. The findings of these three research reports will inform the Council’s work in 2023/24 and into the future.
A summary of the responses received to the consultation paper on perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences.
A resource assessment for the definitive guidelines for perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences.
Perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences: Final resource assessment (HTML)
Perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences: Final resource assessment (PDF)
Data tables showing current sentencing practice for perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences, to accompany the definitive guidelines.
Perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences: Data tables
Perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation offences: Data tables (ODS format)
Minutes of the Sentencing Council meeting on 16 June 2023.
Minutes of meeting: 16 June 2023
A summary of the responses we received to our consultation on motoring offences.
We consulted on drafts of 12 new and revised sentencing guidelines for motoring offences in July 2022.
The draft guidelines proposed changes to reflect the increase in maximum penalties for causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. They also incorporated new offences that had been created since the existing guidelines were published.