hereward
03-11-2010, 12:13 AM
Britain’s leading criminal judges warn that a shake-up of sentencing guidelines could push prison overcrowding to crisis levels.
They fear that the Sentencing Council, which comes into force next month with the aim of bringing more consistency to courts, will not curb judges’ use of custody, as hoped, but actually increase it.
The Council of Circuit Judges, which represents 600 judges in England and Wales, told The Times that they would be left with no freedom to fit punishments to the specific circumstances of a case. They fear that cuts to rehabilitation programmes will leave judges with no option in some cases but to jail offenders. Judge Keith Cutler, vice-president of the Council of Circuit Judges, said that the Sentencing Council requires that judges “must follow” guidelines, rather than “take account” of them.
Although some concessions were secured, allowing judges to sentence within a broad band of recommended penalties, they are concerned that they will be seriously restricted.
“Judges tend to use their discretion to operate towards leniency,” he said. “We fear that the requirement ‘must follow’ will erode judicial discretion and that will lead to heavier sentences.The hope was that the existence of the council would reduce the use of custody. But in the present climate it is unlikely to issue guidelines that are more lenient. Imagine the public outcry.”
He said that judges were in favour of community penalties where appropriate. “But if someone needs a drug intervention programme and we are told that the Probation Service can’t afford it, you might have to jail them to ensure they got treatment.”
Statistics for the last quarter of 2009 show that average sentences were already getting longer: 33 per cent of sentences were six months or more compared with 15 per cent in the previous year. The average length was 197 days, up from 140 days.
If judges’ freedom is further restricted sentences may continue to rise. The prison population stood at 84,073 last week, less than 2,400 below capacity.
The Sentencing Council, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, will issue guidelines and monitor the impact of sentencing and of new justice legislation.
David Thomas, QC, author of the leading textbook Sentencing Referencer, said that all existing guidelines would have to be rewritten to specify the new categories. At present, judges have wide discretion: for robbery, the range is 12 months to 12 years; and for causing death by dangerous driving 2 years to 14 years.
Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “The overt aim was to give greater consistency in sentencing. But the covert aim was to create a system by which ministers could dictate that judges must take account of the availability of prison places.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman insisted that judges’ discretion would remain unfettered and would be respected. “There will not be an American-style sentencing grid or matrix,” he said. “Judges will still have the discretion and flexibility to give the sentence they think most appropriate. Judicial discretion in sentencing in individual cases is the cornerstone of our justice system. We are not going to change that.”
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7057493.ece
They fear that the Sentencing Council, which comes into force next month with the aim of bringing more consistency to courts, will not curb judges’ use of custody, as hoped, but actually increase it.
The Council of Circuit Judges, which represents 600 judges in England and Wales, told The Times that they would be left with no freedom to fit punishments to the specific circumstances of a case. They fear that cuts to rehabilitation programmes will leave judges with no option in some cases but to jail offenders. Judge Keith Cutler, vice-president of the Council of Circuit Judges, said that the Sentencing Council requires that judges “must follow” guidelines, rather than “take account” of them.
Although some concessions were secured, allowing judges to sentence within a broad band of recommended penalties, they are concerned that they will be seriously restricted.
“Judges tend to use their discretion to operate towards leniency,” he said. “We fear that the requirement ‘must follow’ will erode judicial discretion and that will lead to heavier sentences.The hope was that the existence of the council would reduce the use of custody. But in the present climate it is unlikely to issue guidelines that are more lenient. Imagine the public outcry.”
He said that judges were in favour of community penalties where appropriate. “But if someone needs a drug intervention programme and we are told that the Probation Service can’t afford it, you might have to jail them to ensure they got treatment.”
Statistics for the last quarter of 2009 show that average sentences were already getting longer: 33 per cent of sentences were six months or more compared with 15 per cent in the previous year. The average length was 197 days, up from 140 days.
If judges’ freedom is further restricted sentences may continue to rise. The prison population stood at 84,073 last week, less than 2,400 below capacity.
The Sentencing Council, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, will issue guidelines and monitor the impact of sentencing and of new justice legislation.
David Thomas, QC, author of the leading textbook Sentencing Referencer, said that all existing guidelines would have to be rewritten to specify the new categories. At present, judges have wide discretion: for robbery, the range is 12 months to 12 years; and for causing death by dangerous driving 2 years to 14 years.
Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “The overt aim was to give greater consistency in sentencing. But the covert aim was to create a system by which ministers could dictate that judges must take account of the availability of prison places.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman insisted that judges’ discretion would remain unfettered and would be respected. “There will not be an American-style sentencing grid or matrix,” he said. “Judges will still have the discretion and flexibility to give the sentence they think most appropriate. Judicial discretion in sentencing in individual cases is the cornerstone of our justice system. We are not going to change that.”
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7057493.ece