Sentencing and criminal justice

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 12
Table of statutes......Page 13
Table of cases......Page 18
1.1 Courts and crimes......Page 29
1.2 The available sentences......Page 30
1.2.1 Sentences for adult offenders......Page 31
1.2.1 Sentences for young offenders......Page 35
1.3 The general statistical background......Page 36
1.4 The criminal process......Page 50
1.5 The formal sources of sentencing decisions......Page 59
1.5.1 Legislation......Page 60
1.5.2 Definitive sentencing guidelines......Page 61
1.5.3 Judicial decisions......Page 63
1.6 Informal influences on sentencing practice......Page 69
2.1 The separation of powers in sentencing......Page 78
2.2 The Sentencing Advisory Panel and the Guidelines Council......Page 82
2.3 The judiciary, the executive and sentencing policy......Page 86
2.4 The Judicial Studies Board......Page 89
2.5 The position of the magistracy......Page 90
2.5.1 The Magistrates’ Association......Page 91
2.5.2 The Magistrates’ Courts Sentencing Guidelines......Page 92
2.5.5 The Judicial Studies Board......Page 93
2.6 Conclusions......Page 94
3.1 The aims of the criminal justice system......Page 95
3.2 Justifying state punishment......Page 98
3.3.1 The argument for declaring a primary rationale......Page 100
3.3.2 Deterrence......Page 103
3.3.3 Incapacitation......Page 108
3.3.4 Rehabilitation......Page 110
3.3.5 Desert......Page 112
3.3.6 Social theories of sentencing......Page 115
3.3.7 Restoration and reparation......Page 116
3.3.8 Defining punishment......Page 118
3.4  Some principles and policies......Page 119
3.4.1 The principle of respect for fundamental rights......Page 120
3.4.2 The principle of restraint in the use of custody......Page 122
3.4.4 The principle of equality before the law......Page 124
3.4.6 The principle of parsimony......Page 125
3.5 Sentencing rationales and English criminal justice......Page 126
4.1 The proportionality principle......Page 130
4.2 Opinions about offence-seriousness......Page 132
4.3 Developing parameters of ordinal proportionality......Page 134
4.4 Offence-seriousness in practice......Page 142
4.4.1 Murder......Page 144
4.4.2 Attempted murder......Page 146
4.4.3 Manslaughter......Page 147
4.4.4 Causing death by bad driving......Page 150
4.4.5 Drug trafficking......Page 152
4.4.6 Serious woundings......Page 154
4.4.7: Rape......Page 155
4.4.8 Other sexual offences......Page 157
4.4.9 Robbery......Page 158
4.4.10 Burglary......Page 161
4.4.11 Theft in breach of trust......Page 163
4.4.12 Theft from the person......Page 165
4.4.13 Handling stolen goods......Page 166
4.4.14 Child pornography......Page 167
4.4.15 The Magistrates’ Courts guidelines......Page 169
4.5 Individual culpability......Page 170
4.6 Proportionality, human rights and European law......Page 175
4.7 Proportionality and offence-seriousness......Page 176
Some preliminary problems of principle......Page 179
5.2.1 Statutory aggravating factors......Page 181
5.2.2 General aggravating factors recognized in definitive guidelines......Page 183
5.2.3 Specific aggravating factors......Page 187
5.3 Mitigation as diminished seriousness......Page 188
5.3.2 General mitigating factors related to seriousness......Page 189
5.4.1 Statutory reduction of sentence for a plea of guilty......Page 191
5.4.2 Assisting the criminal justice system......Page 199
5.4.3 Voluntary reparation......Page 200
5.4.4 Worthy social contributions......Page 201
5.4.5 The probable impact of the sentence on the offender......Page 202
5.5 Mitigation and aggravation in practice......Page 206
5.6 Aggravation and mitigation in theory......Page 208
6.1 Historical introduction......Page 210
6.2.1 Flat-rate sentencing......Page 212
6.2.2 The cumulative principle......Page 213
6.2.3 Progressive loss of mitigation......Page 215
6.3.1 Policy on persistent offenders......Page 219
6.3.2 The new law......Page 223
6.3.3 The probable outcomes......Page 227
6.4 The problem of ‘professional’ criminals......Page 229
6.5 Persistent petty offenders......Page 230
6.6 The prevention of ‘anti-social behaviour’......Page 231
6.7 Minimum sentences and selective incapacitation......Page 234
6.8 ‘Dangerous offenders’ and the 2003 Act......Page 238
6.9 Conclusion......Page 245
7.1 The principle and its challengers......Page 247
7.2 Race......Page 249
7.3 Gender......Page 252
7.4 Employment status......Page 255
7.5 Financial circumstances......Page 258
7.6 Social status......Page 261
7.7 Equality, parsimony and risk......Page 262
CHAPTER 8: Multiple offenders......Page 267
8.1.2 Charge specimen offences......Page 268
8.1.4 Offences taken into consideration......Page 269
8.2 Concurrent or consecutive?......Page 270
8.2.1 The idea of concurrence......Page 271
8.2.2 The general principle......Page 272
8.2.3 Four possible exceptions......Page 273
8.2.4 The scope of the general principle......Page 274
8.3 Effect of the statutory principle......Page 275
8.4 Consecutive sentences and the totality principle......Page 276
8.4.1 Totality and proportionality......Page 277
8.4.2 The totality principle in operation......Page 279
8.4.3 Totality and non-custodial sentencing......Page 280
8.4.4 Totality as a limiting principle?......Page 281
8.5 Multiple offenders and proportionality......Page 282
9.1 The state of the prisons......Page 283
9.1.2 The prison estate......Page 284
9.1.3 The problems of the prison system......Page 285
9.2.1 International comparisons......Page 288
9.2.2 The courts and custodial sentencing......Page 291
9.3 Principles for the use of custodial sentences......Page 293
9.3.1 Justifying restraint in the use of custody......Page 294
9.3.2 Bifurcation or mixed messages?......Page 297
9.4.1 The custody threshold......Page 299
9.4.2 The suspended sentence......Page 302
9.4.3 Intermittent custody......Page 305
9.4.4 Custody plus......Page 306
9.5.1 Release provisions in the 2003 Act......Page 309
9.5.2 Home Detention Curfew......Page 310
9.5.3 The effect on sentencing practice......Page 311
9.6.1 Remand prisoners awaiting trial......Page 313
9.6.2 Women prisoners......Page 314
9.6.3 Ethnic minority prisoners......Page 316
9.6.4 Mentally disordered prisoners......Page 317
9.7 Conclusions......Page 319
10.1 A brief history......Page 321
10.2 The absolute discharge......Page 323
10.3 Conditional discharges and bind-overs......Page 324
10.4 Compensation orders......Page 326
10.5.1 Introduction......Page 330
10.5.3 The rise and fall of unit fines......Page 332
10.5.4 Fines in magistrates’ courts: business as usual?......Page 334
10.5.5 Fines in the Crown Court......Page 336
10.5.6 Repayment periods......Page 337
10.5.7 Fining companies......Page 338
10.5.8 The enforcement of fines......Page 339
10.6.1 Introduction......Page 340
10.6.2 The threshold tests for imposing a community sentence......Page 342
10.6.3 The range of requirements......Page 343
10.6.4 The choice of requirement(s)......Page 349
10.6.6 Dealing with breach......Page 353
10.7 Deferment of sentence......Page 354
10.8.1 Repositioning the thresholds......Page 355
10.8.3 The drive towards effectiveness in reducing reoffending......Page 357
10.8.4 101 malfunctions......Page 358
11.1 The sentencing framework of the 2003 Act......Page 360
11.2 Ancillary orders......Page 361
11.2.1 Privatory orders......Page 362
11.2.2 Preventive orders......Page 363
11.3 The obligation to give reasons for sentence......Page 368
11.4 The factual basis for sentencing......Page 370
11.4.1 Interpreting a jury verdict......Page 371
11.4.2 Interpreting a guilty plea......Page 372
11.4.3 Towards procedural fairness......Page 373
11.5 Police antecedents statements......Page 374
11.6 The role of the prosecution......Page 375
11.7 Pre-sentence reports......Page 376
11.8 Defence speech in mitigation......Page 378
11.9 The role of the victim......Page 380
11.9.1  Information from victims......Page 381
11.9.2 Victim’s opinion on sentence......Page 383
12.1.1 A short history of juvenile justice......Page 387
12.1.2 The structure of the youth justice system......Page 389
12.2.3 The youth court and non-custodial sentences......Page 392
12.1.4 Custodial sentences......Page 395
12.2 Young adult offenders......Page 396
12.2.2 Sentencing young adults......Page 397
12.3 Mentally disordered offenders......Page 0
12.3.1 Diversion of mentally disordered offenders......Page 399
12.3.2 Special orders for the mentally disordered......Page 400
12.3.3 Prisons and the mentally disordered......Page 404
12.3.4 Conclusions......Page 406
13.1 The responsibility of sentencing......Page 408
13.2 The new penal ladder......Page 410
13.2 Delivering change: the guideline system......Page 412
13.4 Risk, public protection and trifurcation......Page 413
13.5 Proportionality and social justice......Page 415
13.6 Political courage and criminal justice......Page 416
References......Page 418
Index......Page 437