The General guideline and the expanded explanations were published on 24 July 2019 and came into force on 1 October 2019.

The consultation on providing expanded explanations in sentencing guidelines was published on 28 February 2019 and closed on 23 May 2019.

The consultation on a general sentencing guideline for use where there is no offence specific guideline was published on 19 June 2018 and closed on 11 September 2018.

The General guideline replaced the Overarching Principles: Seriousness guideline, which was published in 2004.

Related documents

To support the guidelines and consultations, the Council publishes a range of documents. These documents may include consultation responses, statistical bulletins, resource and equality impact assessments and guideline assessments.

Related documents: General guideline and expanded explanations