§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Attorney-General how many cases in each of the last three years were referred to the Court of Appeal to review apparently lenient sentences; and how many of those reviews resulted in stronger sentences. [35718]
The Attorney-GeneralThe figures for references by the Law Officers of sentence to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) under Part IV of the Criminal Justice Act 1998 are as follows:
For England and Wales Year Number of sentences referred Number of sentences increased Number of references withdrawn Number of references waiting to be heard 1995 77 67 4 1 1996 68 49 2 0 1997 70 41 1 11 1998 (to 24 March 1998) 19 1 0 18
For Northern Ireland Year Number of sentences referred Number of sentences increased Number of references withdrawn Number of references waiting to be heard 1995 4 3 0 0 1996 2 2 0 0 1997 0 0 0 0 1998 (to 24 March 1998) 0 0 0 0