Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 4
Tenth Report - Public opinion and understanding of sentencing
Published 25 Oct 2023
Paragraph 37
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Public opinion and understanding of sentencing All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
There needs to be a step-change in the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General’s Office and the Sentencing Council’s efforts on public legal education. HMCTS should develop a programme which enables secondary school pupils to be able to visit magistrates’ courts and Crown Courts to find out about the criminal justice system and sentencing. Education about criminal justice procedure, including sentencing policy and practice, should be incorporated into the National Curriculum for Citizenship Education. The Sentencing Council should look into producing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on sentencing that could enable members of the public to learn about how sentencing works in England and Wales. Resources on sentencing and criminal justice could also be added to the Oak National Academy Online teaching resources. The Ministry of Justice and the Sentencing Council should consider producing a standalone public-facing website dedicated to providing the public with up-to date information on sentencing trends in England and Wales.
From: Justice Committee, Tenth Report - Public opinion and understanding of sentencing (HC 305), paragraph 37, 25 October 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 18 January 2024 (deadline 25 December 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and says it has "delivered, or are delivering, several initiatives" on public confidence and transparency, while leaving recommendations aimed at the Sentencing Council and the judiciary to those bodies.
- On sentencing remarks, it has announced "a one-year trial" letting victims of rape and other serious sexual offences request the judge's sentencing remarks free of charge in the Crown Court. It does not extend this to all victims, citing cost to the taxpayer.
- On the Victims' Code, once the Victims and Prisoners Bill has received Royal Assent, the MoJ "will be publicly consulting on an updated Victims' Code" and will consider the information on the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme as part of that.
- On statistics, it says its quarterly Criminal Justice System Statistics publication provides more flexible data tools than a lengthy digest would, and that it "will continue to consider options" for broader visual presentations.
- On terminology, it "share[s] the objective" of accessible sentencing language and awaits the Sentencing Academy's work. On press judges, it says any consideration is "not for government but a matter for the judiciary".