Magistrates' Courts: Sentencing
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the unduly lenient sentence scheme to cases sentenced in the Magistrates’ Court.
Answered by Heidi Alexander
The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme operates in respect of qualifying sentences passed in the Crown Court, where the offender has been convicted of: (a) an indictable only offence (such as murder, manslaughter and rape); and/or (b) certain either-way offences specified by order(s). This is because the intention behind the ULS scheme is that it is reserved for the most serious cases.
Offences within scope of the scheme therefore include all indictable-only offences – such as murder, manslaughter, rape and robbery. Certain triable either way offences, mainly relating to terrorism, physical or sexual assaults, and drug related crime, are also included.
While the scheme is kept under constant review, Parliament intended this to be an exceptional power. The general rule is that a person should expect to serve the sentence a judge has imposed upon them.
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