§ Mr. ColvinTo ask the Attorney-General how many complaints of undue leniency in sentencing have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service under the Criminal Justice Act 1986; and how many of these have been referred on to the Attorney-General. [4626]
The Solicitor-GeneralApproximately 80,000 cases prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service result in conviction and sentence at the Crown court annually. A significant number of these cases fall within the category of offences subject to review under the provision of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The Crown Prosecution Service has established systems to ensure the most careful consideration to any sentence which could potentially be appropriate for review. Information on the total number of cases considered by the Crown Prosecution Service since the passing of the Act is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.