Sentencing Council Draft Guidelines on Sentencing of Youths and Magistrates' Court Sentencing
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House of Commons Justice Committee Sentencing Council draft guidelines on sentencing of youths and magistrates’ court sentencing Fifth Report of Session 2016–17 HC 646 House of Commons Justice Committee Sentencing Council draft guidelines on sentencing of youths and magistrates’ court sentencing Fifth Report of Session 2016–17 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 13 September 2016 HC 646 Published on 21 September 2016 by authority of the House of Commons Justice Committee The Justice Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Ministry of Justice and its associated public bodies (including the work of staff provided for the administrative work of courts and tribunals, but excluding consideration of individual cases and appointments, and excluding the work of the Scotland and Wales Offices and of the Advocate General for Scotland); and administration and expenditure of the Attorney General’s Office, the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office (but excluding individual cases and appointments and advice given within government by Law Officers). Current membership Robert Neill MP (Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst) (Chair) Richard Arkless MP (Scottish National Party, Dumfries and Galloway) Alex Chalk MP (Conservative, Cheltenham) Alberto Costa MP (Conservative, South Leicestershire) Philip Davies MP (Conservative, Shipley) Chris Elmore MP (Labour, Ogmore) Mr David Hanson MP (Labour, Delyn) John Howell MP (Conservative, Henley) Dr Rupa Huq MP (Labour, Ealing Central and Acton) Victoria Prentis MP (Conservative, Banbury) Marie Rimmer MP (Labour, St Helens South and Whiston) The following Members were also members of the Committee during the Parliament: Richard Burgon MP (Labour, Leeds East), Sue Hayman MP (Labour, Workington), Andy McDonald MP (Labour, Middlesbrough), Christina Rees MP (Labour, Neath), and Nick Thomas-Symonds MP (Labour, Torfaen). Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/justicecttee and in print by Order of the House. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Nick Walker (Clerk), Jonathan Whiffing (Second Clerk), Gemma Buckland (Senior Committee Specialist), Nony Ardill (Legal Specialist), Christine Randall (Senior Committee Assistant), Anna Browning (Committee Assistant), and Liz Parratt (Committee Media Officer) Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Justice Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 8196; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] Sentencing Council draft guidelines on sentencing of youths and magistrates’ court 1 sentencing Contents The role of the Sentencing Council 3 Draft youth sentencing guidelines 4 Overarching principles for sentencing youths 4 References to international obligations 4 Aggravating and mitigating factors 5 Considerations of deterrence 5 The use of age in setting the length of custodial sentences 5 Sexual offences guideline 6 Robbery guideline 6 Draft magistrates’ court sentencing guidelines 7 Alcohol sale offences 7 Animal cruelty offences 8 Communication network offences 8 Drugs–Class A–fail to attend/ remain for initial assessment 9 Railway fare evasion 9 Taxi touting 9 Vehicle taking without consent 10 Careless driving (drive without due care and attention) 10 Annex : List of draft magistrates’ court guidelines being consulted on 11 Formal Minutes 13 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 14 Sentencing Council draft guidelines on sentencing of youths and magistrates’ court 3 sentencing The role of the Sentencing Council 1. The Sentencing Council for England and Wales is an independent non-departmental body of the Ministry of Justice, set up to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing, whilst maintaining the independence of the judiciary. Its primary role is to issue guidelines on sentencing, which the courts must follow unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so. The Council also assesses the impact of guidelines on sentencing practice and promotes public awareness of sentencing practice in the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court. 2. Under section 120 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the Council is required to publish sentencing guidelines in draft before they are finalised. Section 120(6) of the 2009 Act lists the Justice Committee as a statutory consultee on draft guidelines. The Council must also consult the Lord Chancellor and any person that the Lord Chancellor directs should be consulted, together with such other persons as the Council considers appropriate. 3. In this report we comment on two different sets of draft guidelines. We are grateful as ever to the Sentencing Council for sharing consultation responses with us1 and for agreeing to consider our report although it is published after the consultation deadlines. 4. Before turning to the draft guidelines, we note that some of the draft guidelines contain changes from the current guideline without providing any rationale, while other changes are specifically drawn to respondents’ attention and explained in the consultation document. An example of this is the draft animal cruelty guideline. The current guideline provides that several animals being affected is a factor indicating greater harm. The draft guideline does not include any reference to multiple animals being harmed and there is no explanation for why this change was made. 5. We believe it would be helpful if the Sentencing Council in future would ensure that all changes being proposed within draft guidelines were noted and explained within the Sentencing Council’s consultation documents. We believe such explanations would greatly assist respondents in understanding the changes being proposed and offering constructive responses. 1 We do not publish the responses to the Sentencing Council that we receive. 4 Sentencing Council draft guidelines on sentencing of youths and magistrates’ court sentencing Draft youth sentencing guidelines 6. The consultation period for the draft youth sentencing guidelines ran from 12 May 2016 to 3 August 2016. The consultation covered three matters: guidelines on the overarching principles for sentencing youths (i.e. general principles for sentencing a youth for any offence); offence-specific guidelines for sexual offences (which covers all sexual offences committed by a person under 18) and offence-specific guidelines for robbery (which covers all types of robbery offending committed by those under 18).2 The offence-specific guidelines are to be read in conjunction with the overarching principles for sentencing youths. The resource assessment accompanying the draft guidelines explains that the Council does not intend or foresee a change in current sentencing practice by issuing any of the three guidelines consulted upon.3 We comment on each of the guidelines in turn. Overarching principles for sentencing youths 7. In the consultation document the Sentencing Council states the objective of the draft guidelines is not to “alter significantly the content” of the existing guideline but instead to “update the guideline, and make it more accessible by adding flowcharts and tables that are easy to use.”4 8. We welcome the Sentencing Council’s efforts to make the guidelines more accessible and believe the draft guidelines succeed in this aim by making use of tables and flowcharts. References to international obligations 9. We note that, except for a single reference to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the draft guideline does not provide specific references to international obligations—in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by the UK in 1991—although the draft guideline does make a singular reference to “international convention”.5 Box 1: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international human rights treaty which recognises civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. States ratifying the Convention are bound to observe its terms by international law. Some of the articles contained within the instrument affect the criminal justice systems of State Parties. For example, article 37(b) of the Convention states that arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be used “only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.” Source: The United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child 2 Sentencing Council, Sentencing Youths – Overarching Principles and Offence-Specific Guidelines for Sexual Offences and Robbery Consultation, May 2016 3 Sentencing Council, Consultation stage resource assessment: Youths, May 2016, p 7 4 Sentencing Council, Sentencing Youths – Overarching Principles and Offence-Specific Guidelines for Sexual Offences and Robbery Consultation, May 2016, p 7 5 Ibid, Annex C, para 5.42 Sentencing Council draft guidelines on sentencing of youths and magistrates’ court 5 sentencing 10. We believe it is desirable for the guidelines to make specific reference to international conventions, in