News EditorSolicitors Journal

Sentencing Council launch 'ready-reckoner' sentence tool to aid judges and practitioners

Sentencing Council launch 'ready-reckoner' sentence tool to aid judges and practitioners

The tool aims to reduce avoidable sentencing errors

The Sentencing Council has today (16 December) launched a new tool for Crown Court judges to help them avoid common errors in sentencing and confirm that all elements of their intended sentence are lawful.

SentencingACE – which stands for ‘avoidance of common errors’ – is primarily aimed at judges, but is also available as a reference source for defence and prosecution practitioners to ensure the court is addressed on all matters relevant to sentencing and to help avoid technical sentencing errors in their submissions.

Conceived by a High Court judge and tested by Crown Court judges, the tool covers more than 800 offences, including those most commonly sentenced. The Sentencing Council said that, in time, it will include the vast majority of indictable offences and those summary offences most likely to be sentenced in the Crown Court.

The Sentencing Council said the tool will allow judges “to make a quick, ready-reckoner style check” of the sentence they intend to impose. According to the Sentencing Council, the tool provides “a convenient alternative to checking through the reference books to confirm that all elements of an intended sentence – relating to the offence, the offender and the type and level of penalty – are correct in law”.

SentencingACE is designed to be used in conjunction with offence-specific and overarching sentencing guidelines, the Crown Court Compendium and the Sentencing Code. Its use is not mandatory.  

The Sentencing Council has cautioned that while every effort has been made to ensure the information SentencingACE holds is accurate, each judge continues to bear the responsibility for making sure that any sentence imposed is correct in law.

Chairman of the Sentencing Council, Lord Justice Holroyde, said: “Sentencing is a complex procedure, and sentencers must bear in mind a great many matters. SentencingACE will allow Crown Court judges to confirm quickly and easily that the sentence they have decided upon is lawful in all respects.

“SentencingACE should reduce the number of appeals that stem from technical sentencing errors. And, by allowing the Court of Appeal to deal more efficiently with other, more complex cases, this new tool will help to improve public confidence in the criminal justice system.”

SentencingACE is available via the Sentencing Council website from today.

 

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement
Latest News

The Chancery Lane Project expands to the USA

Thu Sep 21 2023

Delay in Final Report of the Infected Blood Inquiry

Thu Sep 21 2023

Attorney General presents UK intervention in Ukraine case against Russia at International Court of Justice

Thu Sep 21 2023

Firms losing potential clients by failing to return their calls, research shows

Thu Sep 21 2023

Powers of attorney modernised as legislation allows CILEX Lawyers to certify LPA copies for the first time

Thu Sep 21 2023

Stark contrast between Government response to Post Office Horizon victims and Infected Blood

Wed Sep 20 2023

ACSO comments on the Justice select Committee report:

Wed Sep 20 2023

Campaigners win permission to appeal against Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station ruling

Tue Sep 19 2023

Pre-inquest review into the deaths of Reading murder victims, James Furlong, Dr David Wails and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett

Mon Sep 18 2023
FeaturedAudit reform: if not now, when?
Audit reform: if not now, when?
Browne Jacobson collaborates with LGiU on report highlighting “critical” role of local government to hit net zero
Browne Jacobson collaborates with LGiU on report highlighting “critical” role of local government to hit net zero
The battle for talent – promoting diversity
The battle for talent – promoting diversity
BSB publishes new guidance on barristers’ conduct in non-professional life and on social mediaSJ interview: Adrian Chopin
SJ interview: Adrian Chopin
Whose human rights are more important, yours or mine?
Whose human rights are more important, yours or mine?