§ 35. Mr. BlizzardTo ask the Solicitor-General what criteria the Law Officers apply when determining whether to refer an unduly lenient sentence to the Court of Appeal. [127066]
The Solicitor-GeneralThe Attorney-General and I have the power to refer sentences to the Court of Appeal if we consider them to be unduly lenient.
An unduly lenient sentence is not one which is merely lenient but one which falls outside the range of sentences that a judge, applying his or her mind to all the relevant circumstances of the case, could reasonably consider appropriate. The appropriate range must be determined by consideration of the principles of sentencing and other guidance laid down by the Court of Appeal.