Queen's Speech December 2019 - Sentencing Bill

Sentencing Bill

“New sentencing laws will ensure the most serious violent offenders, including terrorists, serve longer in custody.”

The purpose of the Bill is to:

• ●  Ensure that the most serious violent and sexual offenders spend time in prison that matches the severity of their crimes, protecting victims and giving the public confidence.

• ●  Tackle repeat and prolific offenders through robust community sentences which punish and also address offenders’ needs.

  The main benefits of the Bill would be:

• ●  To protect the public and give greater confidence to victims by ensuring that serious violent and sexual offenders spend more of their sentence in prison and are properly rehabilitated.

• ●  To give the public greater confidence that community sentences will be robust and flexible enough to punish offenders appropriately, whilst addressing offender needs where required.

  The main elements of the Bill are:

  • ●  Changing the automatic release point from halfway to the two-thirds point for adult offenders sentenced for serious violent or sexual offences, bringing this in line with the earliest release point for those considered to be dangerous.

  • ●  Aligning how life tariffs are calculated with the extended release points for serious violent and sexual offenders.

  • ●  Tougher community sentences that include longer curfews and more hours of unpaid work.

  • ●  Extending the range of circumstances where the starting point for the sentence in cases of murder is a whole life order. This will particularly focus on those who have murdered children.

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Territorial extent and application

Key facts

• ●  There are range of sentences available for serious violent and sexual offenders which include:

  • ○  A life sentence – a minimum period or “tariff” in prison before they are considered for release by the Parole Board. The offender may therefore never be released. If released, offenders spend the rest of their life on licence and can be recalled to custody.

  • ○  Extended Determinate Sentence – eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board from the two-thirds point but can serve the full term in prison if not assessed to be safe to release earlier. The custodial term is followed by an extended period on licence for on- going public protection (of up to eight years for sex or terrorist offenders and five years for violent offenders).

  • ○  Sentence for Offenders of Particular Concern - Release is at the discretion of the Parole Board between the halfway and end point of the custodial period, with an additional 12 months licence period at the end.

  • ○  Standard Determinate Sentence – the offender will be automatically released at the halfway point in this sentence and be on licence in the community for the second half of the sentence.

• ●  The vast majority of offenders, including those who are sentenced for serious violent and sexual offences receive a Standard Determinate Sentence.

  Whole Life Order

• ●  Schedule 21 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 sets out particular types of murder that, for sentencing purposes, are deemed to have an appropriate starting point of a whole life order.

• ●  Currently when sentencing an offender for one of these particular types of murder, a judge must consider whether a whole life order should be imposed but he or she has a discretion not to do so.

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• ●  The existing schedule already sets out that a whole life order is a starting point for the murder of a child that involves the abduction of the child or sexual or sadistic motivation.

• ●  The whole life order also currently applies to offenders aged 21 and over and a child victim is defined as a person under 18.