- New legal requirement for Sentencing Council guidelines to be
agreed by the Justice Secretary before they are issued
- Lady Chief Justice will also need to explicitly approve any
new guidelines
- Part of Government's Plan for Change to build public
confidence in the justice system
The Sentencing Council will be unable to issue new guidelines
without the explicit approval of the Justice Secretary,
strengthening democratic oversight of the body. The approval of
the Lady Chief Justice will also be required before new
guidelines are issued.
Today's news follows a disagreement between the Justice Secretary
and Sentencing Council earlier this year over planned new
guidelines which the Justice Secretary argued would result in “a
clear example of differential treatment” and risked “undermining
public confidence in a justice system that is built on the idea
of equality before the law”.
While a new law introduced in June blocked these sentencing
guidelines, the Justice Secretary is clear the Council should not
be allowed to stray into setting policy without the direction of
Parliament and committed to “right the democratic deficit that
has been uncovered”.
As part of the Sentencing Bill, introduced in the House of
Commons today, both the Justice Secretary and the Lady Chief
Justice will be given individual – and separate – powers
requiring them to approve any future guidelines before they can
be issued.
Enshrined in law, this means any new directive issued by the
Sentencing Council will require the explicit approval of both. If
the either oppose the guidance, it will not be issued.
The new powers will end a historic democratic deficit,
ensuring Parliament's legitimate role in setting the sentencing
framework is recognised and upheld, while maintaining and
strengthening judicial and democratic oversight.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice said:
“Individual sentencing decisions will always be the
responsibility of the independent judiciary – and this is
something I will staunchly defend.
“However, policy must be set by parliamentarians, who answer to
the people.
“Government and Parliament have a legitimate role in setting the
sentencing framework. It is right that we now have greater
democratic and judicial oversight of the direction of the
Council's work and the final guidelines they publish.”
There will also be a requirement for the Council to seek approval
from the Justice Secretary of its annual business plan. The
reforms do not interfere with the independence of judges in
making individual sentencing decisions.
The move forms part of wider reforms to sentencing policy as set
out in today's Sentencing Bill. This landmark legislation also
includes measures to ensure prisons never run out of space again,
including Texas-style earned release sentences and bold new
action to toughen up community punishment.
This comes alongside the Government's prison building programme,
the largest expansion in the estate since the Victorian era. The
Government has already opened 2,500 new places since taking
office, and has invested £7bn in construction, on track to
deliver 14,000 places by 2031.
Tens of thousands more offenders will also be tagged and
monitored thanks to a huge boost in investment for the Probation
Service, with an increase of up to £700 million by 2028/29, up 45
percent from the current budget.
