The Sentencing Bill, which contains a range of significant
reforms to sentencing policy, will shortly be introduced in the
Assembly
The Bill, which is being brought forward by the Department of
Justice, will deliver on a number of key ministerial priorities.
Justice Minister said: “This is a significant
step in bringing forward this important piece of legislation,
which will have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of
people across Northern Ireland.
“It will increase the maximum penalty for causing death, or
serious injury by dangerous driving or careless driving whilst
under the influence of drink or drugs, from 14 years to 20 years.
“It will also introduce a new offence and higher sentences for
assaulting those providing a service to the public or performing
a public duty.
“The Bill will also create ‘Charlotte's Law', which aims to
reduce the trauma experienced by families of murder victims in so
called ‘no body' cases.”
Charlotte's Law will see the creation of a statutory aggravator
for failure to disclose the location of victims' remains and new
sentence reductions for post-sentence disclosures.
It will also introduce provisions equivalent to Helen's Law,
requiring Parole Commissioners to consider failure to disclose
the location of victims' remains in release decisions.
The Minister continued: “In developing this Bill, I have
met and listened to a range of victims and stakeholder
organisations.
“Their voices have been crucial and as we move closer to
introducing the Sentencing Bill, I want to thank them for their
invaluable contribution to this process.”
Notes to Editors:
- The Bill will:
- Set the principles of sentencing as proportionality,
fairness and transparency; and the purposes of sentencing as
punishment, protection of the public (including victims of
crime), deterrence, rehabilitation and reparation;
- Define and require the courts to have regard to
sentencing guidance;
- Enable the courts to include community requirements to
make suspended sentences more tailored and impactful;
- Set statutory starting points for life sentence tariffs
for murder:15 years as the starting point where there are no
significant aggravating features; and 20 years for the worst
cases;
- Make provision in NI legislation for unduly lenient
sentences (rather than current UK-wide Act) with the change
that current arrangements will be extended to all Crown Court
sentences;
- Provide for failure to disclose information about
victims' remains (Charlotte's Law): whereby a killer's
sentence will be increased to reflect their failure to
disclose, providing for a proportionate reduction in that
increase if a subsequent disclosure is made;
- Introduce provision equivalent to Helen's Law , requiring
the Parole Commissioners to take failure to disclose into
account when considering a prisoner's release on licence;
- Introduce a statutory aggravator model for hate crime
where the victim belongs or is assumed to belong to a “racial
group”; a “religious group”; a “sexual orientation group”; or
a “disability group”;
- Introduce a vulnerable victim aggravator, where the
offender knows or ought reasonably to have known the victim
was vulnerable;
- Create a new offence of assaulting a person delivering a
public service, performing a public duty or providing a
service to the public, or a person assisting such a person;
- Increase the maximum penalty for offences causing death
or serious injury by driving;
- Increase the current maximum sentences and minimum
disqualification periods for a range of ‘causing death by
driving' offences. Most significantly it increases the
higher maximum penalties from 14 to 20 years;
- Introduce a discretionary life sentence for repeat
offenders; and
- Make provision so that driving disqualification periods
will normally be served after release from prison.
- The Bill will be introduced in the next few weeks as soon as
Assembly pre-introduction formalities have been completed.
- The Department launched a separate review of sentencing in
January to inform future legislative proposals: Long announces sentencing
review | Department of Justice
