On 5 March 2025, the Sentencing Council published an updated draft of its ‘Imposition of Community and Custodial Sentences’ guideline, which sparked a significant reaction in Parliament and from stakeholders. The section that caused the controversy was the greater emphasis placed on the use of Pre-Sentence Reports to assess an individual’s circumstances when sentencing, specifically in relation to ethnic, cultural or faith minorities.
The weight placed on considering this specific ‘cohort’ of offenders gave rise to accusations from across the House that the guideline would create a ‘two-tier’ justice system.
The discontent over the guideline resulted in the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, publicly clashing with the President of the Sentencing Council before introducing emergency legislation to block them hours before they were due to come into force on 1 April 2025. The Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill is being fast-tracked through Parliament. The Bill will prohibit references to personal characteristics in guidance on requesting Pre-Sentence Reports, rendering the section on ‘cohorts’ in the guideline unlawful. It will also prevent the Sentencing Council from reissuing guidelines containing similar terms.
This briefing will explore the debate surrounding the use of Pre-Sentence Reports, add context to the events that led up to the publication of the guideline, and outline the legislation introduced by the Government in response to it.
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