Much ink has been spilt over the current state of the criminal justice system, with long court backlogs and over-crowded prisons dominating recent news cycles. Last month the Government made two announcements in an effort to improve matters.
On 17 October 2024, it announced plans to increase the sentencing jurisdiction of magistrates from six months to twelve months. The following week, it announced a “landmark sentencing review” to be chaired by Rt Hon David Gauke. This article briefly reviews both proposals.
Sentencing Reform
From 18 November 2024, magistrates have had jurisdiction to impose custodial sentences of up to twelve months for a single ‘either-way’ offence, doubling the current limit of six months[1]. This move attempts to tackle the current backlog in Crown Courts and is expected to save approximately 2,000 days in the Crown Court. It also hopes help reduce the remand population, which rose to a record 17,000 in June 2024.
However, the chairwoman of the Criminal Bar Association commented that this change is a “knee-jerk reaction” that will “simply make things worse”. Critics have also commented that the previous attempt at this proposal, in 2022 following the COVID-19 pandemic, led to more people in jail and very little change in the court backlog.
Sentencing Review
The newly-announced prison sentencing review has been launched with an ambitious but laudable goal: “to end the prison crisis”. It will explore alternative sanctions while ensuring that the most dangerous criminals remain behind bars and will follow three ‘core principles’:
- Make sure prison sentences punish serious offenders and protect the public, and there is always the space in prison for the most dangerous offenders.
- Look at what more can be done to encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime and keep the public safe by reducing reoffending.
- Explore tougher punishments outside of prison to make sure these sentences cut crime while making the best use of taxpayers’ money.
Mr Gauke said that the prison sentence review will “explore what punishment and rehabilitation should look like in the 21st century, and how we can move our justice system out of crisis and towards a long-term, sustainable future.”
The Criminal Bar Association and Law Society welcomed the announcement, however, Law Society president Richard Atkinson commented that:
Prison overcrowding is just one part of the wider crisis across our criminal justice system including huge court backlogs, crumbling courtrooms and too few lawyers to do all the work. For the government’s plans to work, the whole criminal justice system needs to be appropriately funded, including defence solicitors.
The review will submit its finding in full by Spring 2025. It will not consider Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences or the administration of them, the use of remand, the youth sentencing framework, or out-of-court resolutions.
[1] The Sentencing Act 2020 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) (Amendment) Regulations 2024
