Table of Contents
1. An Introduction to English Sentencing;
1.1. Courts and Crimes;
1.2. The Available Sentences;
1.3. The General Statistical Background;
1.4. What is Sentencing?;
1.5. The Principal Sources of Sentencing Law;
1.6. Conclusions;
2. Sentencing, the Sentencing Council and the Constitution;
2.1. The Separation of Powers in Sentencing;
2.2. The Constitutional Position of the Sentencing Council;
2.3. The Judiciary, the Executive and Sentencing Policy;
2.4. The Judicial College;
2.5. The Position of the Magistracy;
2.6. European Union Law;
2.7. The European Convention on Human Rights;
2.8. Conclusions;
3. Sentencing Aims, Principles and Policies;
3.1. The Aims of the Criminal Justice System;
3.2. The Role of the State;
3.3. The Rationales of Sentencing;
3.4. Some Principles and Policies;
3.5. Sentencing Rationales in Practice: Deterrence;
3.6. The Role of Public Opinion;
3.7. Conclusions;
4. Proportionality and Seriousness;
4.1. The Proportionality Principle;
4.2. Opinions about Offence-seriousness;
4.3. Developing Parameters of Ordinal Proportionality;
4.4. Offence-seriousness in Practice;
4.5. Individual Culpability;
4.6. Proportionality and Offence-seriousness;
5. Aggravation and Mitigation;
5.1. Some Preliminary Problems of Principle;
5.2. Aggravation as Increased Seriousness;
5.3. Mitigation as Diminished Seriousness;
5.4. Personal Mitigation;
5.5. Assisting the Criminal Justice System;
5.6. Mitigation and Aggravation in Practice;
5.7. Conclusions;
6. Equality Before the Law;
6.1. The Principle and its Challengers;
6.2. Race;
6.3. Gender;
6.4. Employment Status;
6.5. Financial Circumstances;
6.6. Social Status;
6.7. Equality, Parsimony and Risk;
7. Custodial Sentencing;
7.1. The State of the Prisons;
7.2. The Use of Imprisonmen;t
7.3. Principles for the Use of Custodial Sentences;
7.4. On the Cusp of Custody;
7.5. Medium-to-Long Custodial Sentences: Release on License;
7.6. Long Custodial Sentences;
7.7. Conclusions;
8. Non-custodial Sentencing;
8.1. A Brief History;
8.2. The Absolute Discharge;
8.3. Conditional Discharges and Bind-overs;
8.4. Compensation Orders;
8.5. Fines;
8.6. The Community Sentence;
8.7. Deferment of Sentence;
8.8. Conclusions;
9. Persistence, Prevention and Dangerousness;
9.1. Historical Introduction;
9.2. Four Approaches to Punishing Persistence;
9.3. Previous Convictions and the Current Law;
9.4. The Problem of 'Professional' Criminals;
9.5. Persistent Petty Offenders;
9.6. Behaviour Orders;
9.7. Minimum Sentences;
9.8. Sentencing 'Dangerous Offenders;
9.9. Conclusion;
10. Multiple Offenders and Totality;
10.1. Charging the Multiple Offender;
10.2. The Problems of Sentencing Multiple Offenders;
10.3. Guidelines on Sentencing Multiple Offenders;
10.4. Totality: Time for a Fresh Start;
11. Behaviour Orders and Ancillary Orders;
11.1. Outlining the Current Law;
11.2. Prevention, Punishment and the ASBO;
11.3. Behaviour Orders on Conviction;
11.4. Behaviour Orders on Application;
11.5. Ancillary Orders;
11.6. Revisiting the Nature of the Orders;
11.7. Sentencing for Breach of a Behaviour Order;
12. Special Sentencing Powers;
12.1. Young Offenders;
12.2. Young Adult Offenders;
12.3. Mentally Disordered Offenders;
13. Procedural Issues at Sentencing;
13.1. The Factual Basis for Sentencing;
13.2. The Defendant's Record;
13.3. The Role of the Prosecution;
13.4. Pre-sentence Reports;
13.5. Defence Speech in Mitigation;
13.6. The Obligation to Give Reasons for Sentence;
13.7. The Role of the Victim;
14. Sentencing, Guidelines and the Punitive State;
14.1. The Responsibility of Sentencing;
14.2. Rule-of-law Values, Discretion and Guidelines;
14.3. Guidelines and Penal Moderation;
14.4. Risk, Prevention and Public Protection;
14.5. Stepping Back from the Punitive State

This revised and updated new edition focuses on major developments in sentencing law, practice and theory. Sentencing in England and Wales is now dominated by Sentencing Council guidelines, and scrutiny of those guidelines is central to this book. Issues of principle are identified and discussed, to include the constitutional position of the Sentencing Council; the meaning of, and challenges to, proportionality; and the sentencing of BAME offenders and women offenders.
The book welcomes the new Sentencing Code, introduced as the Sentencing Act 2020, and critically examines the government's plans for sentencing reform, set out in the 2020 White Paper A Smarter Approach to Sentencing. Throughout the book, sentencing is explored in its wider criminal justice context – making it essential reading for courses on sentencing, criminal justice and criminal law.