HC Deb 06 March 2003 vol 400 cc1221-2W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the desert model in appendix 8, paragraph 3 of Making Punishments Work, in the sentencing framework of the Criminal Justice Bill. [100137]

Hilary Benn

The Criminal Justice Bill adopts the approach to sentencing advocated by John Halliday in his report "Making Punishments Work", which is based on a modified version of the "just desserts" theory of sentencing. The set of principles which guide sentencers in determining the seriousness of the offence (in chapter 1, part 1 2) incorporate the principle that the punishment should always be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence, on which the "dessert" is based. They have been modified in one respect, again as advocated by John Halliday, so that recent and relevant previous convictions act as aggravating factors in determining sentence seriousness. The Government believes that persistent offenders must know that there will be a steady progress to custody, increasing in length, if they continually offend and fail to respond to previous sentences.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Clause 126 of the Criminal Justice Bill complies with Principle A2 of the Council of Europe's recommendation on consistency of sentencing 1992. [100138]

Hilary Benn

Clause 126 makes explicit the purposes of sentencing on the face of the Bill. We want to encourage sentencers to address more directly than at present the purposes of crime reduction (through reform and rehabilitation, and deterrence) and reparation, alongside the continuing key and prominent aims of public protection and punishment. These purposes are not in conflict and it will be up to sentencers to determine what weight to accord to each in a particular case. This may vary in different cases; for example a purely punitive intervention may be required, in others rehabilitation will feature more heavily.

We do not, therefore, consider Clause 126 to be in conflict with Principle A2 of the Council of Europe recommendation. Our goal is to achieve consistency of approach in sentencing, through the consistent application of explicit principles and standards, recognising that these may result in justifiably disparate outcomes. Clause 126 which sets out the general purposes of sentencing, and those that follow which establish a set of principles to guide the sentence in determining the seriousness of an offence, will help achieve this, as will the establishment of the new Sentencing Guidelines Council which I will produce a set of consolidated guidelines for all criminal courts.