§ Vera BairdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring section 144 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 into force as a matter of urgency. [162984]
§ Paul Goggins[holding answer 23 March 2004]: Section 144, which provides for timely guilty pleas to be recognised by a reduction in sentence, re-enacts section 152 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, which was itself a re-enactment of section 48 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. No date has yet been set for section 144 to be brought into force.
On a related subject, Sir Robin Auld recommended that there should be a clearer tariff of discounts for early guilty please, backed up by a system of advance indication of likely sentence. The tariff question is being taken forward by the Sentencing Advisory Panel, which issued a consultation paper last year, and sentence indication will be dealt with non-legislatively.