§ Lord Windleshamasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many cases have been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney-General for a review of the sentence passed in the Crown Court under the power contained in Section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and what the results have been.
§ The Lord ChancellorThe Attorney-General has made a total of 59 applications for leave to refer Crown Court sentences to the Court of Appeal under the provisions of Sections 35 and 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 since those clauses were brought into force on 1st February 1989.
In 1989 nine applications were made of which two were withdrawn by the Attorney-General before they were considered by the Court. Six of the remainder resulted in an increase in the sentence and one sentence was varied from a suspended prison sentence to a probation order.
Twenty-five applications were made in 1990, of which four were withdrawn and one was refused leave. Seventeen resulted in an increase of sentence and in two cases the sentences were confirmed. One referral was not considered by the court as a retrial was ordered.
Twenty-five applications have been made this year to date of which 10 have been considered by the court. Eight resulted in an increase in the sentence and two sentences were confirmed. The remaining 15 cases are yet to be considered by the Court of Appeal.