Justice secretary granted new veto powers over ‘independent’ public body
The justice secretary has been granted the power to sign off on any new guidelines for prison sentences as part of a push for Parliament to have a say in the justice system, following political backlash earlier this year.
As part of the Sentencing Bill, set to be introduced to the House of Commons today, both the justice secretary and the Lady Chief Justice will be given new powers requiring them to approve any future guidelines before they can be issued.
If either opposes any proposed guidance, it will not be issued.
The Sentencing Council, described as an independent public body for England and Wales, develops and publishes sentencing guidelines for judges and magistrates.
However, the body will be unable to issue new guidelines without the “explicit approval” of the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the Lady Chief Justice, Dame Sue Carr.
Political backlash
The move follows a political disagreement over proposed guidelines for offenders from minority groups, which resulted in the government being accused of a ‘two-tier’ system by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.
Earlier this year, the Sentencing Council suspended its plans to introduce those guidelines after Mahmood argued that they would result in “a clear example of differential treatment” and risked “undermining public confidence in a justice system that is built on the idea of equality before the law”.
As a result, Mahmood has said it is clear the Sentencing Council should not be allowed to stray into setting policy without the direction of Parliament.
The Sentencing Council will also be required to seek approval from her for its annual business plan.
lHowever, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) stated that these reforms will not compromise the independence of judges in making individual sentencing decisions.
Mahmood said: “Individual sentencing decisions will always be the responsibility of the independent judiciary – and this is something I will staunchly defend”.
“However, policy must be set by parliamentarians, who answer to the people. Government and Parliament have a legitimate role in setting the sentencing framework,” she noted.
The justice secretary added” “It is right that we now have greater democratic and judicial oversight of the direction of the council’s work and the final guidelines they publish.”
The Sentencing Bill will also include measures to ensure prisons “never run out of space again” by adding a Texas-style earned release sentence.
This comes after the government had to reactivate an emergency plan to delay court cases last year, following an increase in prison overcrowding.
The problem with the justice system resulted in the Treasury setting aside £7bn to “support the justice system,” in Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review.