Sentencing Council

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Sentencing Council

Agency overview
Formed	April 2010; 14 years ago (April 2010)
Preceding agencies	Sentencing Guidelines Council Sentencing Advisory Panel
Type	Advisory non-departmental public body
Jurisdiction	England and Wales
Headquarters	The Royal Courts of Justice, London, WC2A 2LL
Agency executives	Dame Sue Carr, Lady Chief Justice and President Lord Justice William Davis, Lord Justice of Appeal and Chair
Parent department	Ministry of Justice
Key document	Coroners and Justice Act 2009
Website	www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk
Map
England and Wales in the UK and Europe

The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is a non-departmental public body that is responsible for developing sentencing guidelines, monitoring the use of guidelines and assessing and reviewing a wide range of decisions relating to sentencing. It was established in April 2010 in consequence of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, replacing the Sentencing Guidelines Council and the Sentencing Advisory Panel, its predecessor bodies.

The Council aims to ensure a consistent approach to sentencing, demystify court processes and sentencing for victims and the public, and increase confidence in the criminal justice system.

The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 gives the Sentencing Council a statutory duty to prepare sentencing guidelines about the discharge of a court's duty under section 73 of the Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17) (reduction in sentence for guilty plea), and sentencing guidelines about the application of any rule of law as to the totality of sentences. It is able to prepare sentencing guidelines about any other matter.

It is also required to consider the impact of sentencing practice and the Government may ask it to look at the impact of policy and legislative proposals relating to sentencing.

The Council comprises eight members of the judiciary and six non-judicial members, all with expertise in the criminal justice system. The Council’s chairman is Lord Justice William Davis, a Court of Appeal judge. All members of the Council are appointed by the Lord Chancellor and the Lady Chief Justice.

The Sentencing Guidelines Council was a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government, created by s.167 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. It gave authoritative guidance on sentencing to the courts of England and Wales. The Council was chaired by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and comprised seven judicial members, appointed by the Lord Chancellor after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the Home Secretary, and four non-judicial members, appointed by the Home Secretary after consultation with the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice.

The seven judicial members had to include a circuit judge, a district judge (magistrates courts) and a lay magistrate. The non-judicial members had to be experienced in policing, criminal prosecution, criminal defence or victim welfare. In April 2010 it became the Sentencing Council (combining also the functions of the Sentencing Advisory Panel).^[1][2]

• Official website
• "Coroners and Justice Act 2009", legislation.gov.uk

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