NCJ Number
118279
Date Published
1988
Length
131 pages
Annotation
This description of the English criminal court system emphasizes the effects on offenders of the major legislative revision of criminal justice in the Criminal Justice Acts of 1982 and 1988.
Abstract
The text covers the criminal courts, the magisterial system, and the specific provisions of the two laws. These laws made major improvements in the sentencing of serious offenders under age 21, while specifying the discretionary guidelines for use with lesser offenders. The laws encourage more community-based sentencing prior to the use of incarceration, but public opinion is likely to result in a continuing increase in the inmate population. In 1988, prison overcrowding led to the establishment by the Home Secretary of emergency measures for early parole or the remission of some sentences for up to 12 months and subsequently for sentences for up to 18 months. The prison construction program has also been intensified. The inmate population will probably continue to increase until public opinion changes, despite past experience showing that confinement does not deter reoffenders or reduce recidivism. Index and table of cases.