NCJ Number
141568
Date Published
1993
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The Criminal Justice Act 1991, implemented in Great Britain in October 1992, contains a range of statutory criteria governing the use of custodial, community, and financial penalties and has modified the rules governing the early release of prisoners.
Abstract
The imposition of custodial sentences is regulated through two criteria: the seriousness of the offense and the resulting serious harm. The general rule regarding length of sentence is that it should be commensurate with the seriousness of the offense or with the combined seriousness of the offenses involved. The Act provides that all prisoners must serve at least half their sentence and that all offenders released from determinate sentences of any length will be liable to serve the remainder of that sentence if they commit another imprisonable offense before the end of the original sentence. The Act also restricts the use of the suspended sentence of imprisonment to cases in which the court finds justification for it in exceptional circumstances. In general, the courts are encouraged to pass sentences of absolute and conditional discharges, binding over, and financial penalty unless the offense is serious enough to warrant a community sentence. This may include attendance center orders, probation orders, supervision orders, community service orders, combination orders, and curfew orders. This report summarizes practice direction on the relevance of early release to sentencing and court of appeal judgments.