Law and Rights
It is reported that the Secretary of State for Justice is now coming out against the use of short term prison sentences - see Daily Mail 14th June 2010. He argues that such sentences are ineffective in reforming offenders. In many cases he is right BUT that does not mean that alternative "community sentences" are always effective either though they may be somewhat cheaper. Most people with knowledge of the Magistrates' Courts will know that there are repeat offenders whose "antecedents" show numerous different types of sentence having been tried but the offending continues. There is also the question of what courts should do with those who breach either suspended sentences of imprisonment (which often have requirements such as "unpaid work" attached) or community sentences. A further point is that, if jail is not to be used, there would have to be an expansion of resources relating to community sentences - e.g. it is necessary to have trained people to run or supervise most forms of community sentence and those resources are already thin on the ground. This is a big question and simple abolition of short prison sentences is too simplistic an answer.
Picture: Lord Phillips, then Lord Chief Justice, attended an unpaid work session - see here.
- Sentencing - The Phone Hackers - Rolf Harris
It has been quite a day for sentencing. Sentences have been handed down in relation to very different forms of offending. First came the sentencing of five offenders convicted in relation to phone hacking - see the Sentencing Remarks of Mr Justice...
- From The Party Conferences No.2 ~ Dangerous Offenders
Here are the conference speeches of Labour's "Shadow" Justice Secretary (Mr Sadiq Khan MP) and the present Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice - Mr Chris Grayling MP. Mr Sadiq Khan ...
- Sentencing: Suspended Sentence Orders
Crown Court - ManchesterPrisons and Young Offenders Institutions (YOI) are in the news again. On 27th January, The Guardian reported that the prison population in England and Wales was 87,668. This is said to be 3500 higher than at the same...
- Magistrates Powers
The Magistrates' Association represents over 28,000 Justices of the Peace who serve in the Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales. The U.K. is very unique in the extent to which non-lawyers participate in the criminal justice system and...
- The Government's Vision For Reform - A Look At Kenneth Clarke's Speech
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Kenneth Clarke QC) has made a speech at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. It is a far-ranging speech set against the background of financial savings which the coalition government...
Law and Rights
Short term prison sentences in the news again !
Picture: Lord Phillips, then Lord Chief Justice, attended an unpaid work session - see here.
- Sentencing - The Phone Hackers - Rolf Harris
It has been quite a day for sentencing. Sentences have been handed down in relation to very different forms of offending. First came the sentencing of five offenders convicted in relation to phone hacking - see the Sentencing Remarks of Mr Justice...
- From The Party Conferences No.2 ~ Dangerous Offenders
Here are the conference speeches of Labour's "Shadow" Justice Secretary (Mr Sadiq Khan MP) and the present Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice - Mr Chris Grayling MP. Mr Sadiq Khan ...
- Sentencing: Suspended Sentence Orders
Crown Court - ManchesterPrisons and Young Offenders Institutions (YOI) are in the news again. On 27th January, The Guardian reported that the prison population in England and Wales was 87,668. This is said to be 3500 higher than at the same...
- Magistrates Powers
The Magistrates' Association represents over 28,000 Justices of the Peace who serve in the Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales. The U.K. is very unique in the extent to which non-lawyers participate in the criminal justice system and...
- The Government's Vision For Reform - A Look At Kenneth Clarke's Speech
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Kenneth Clarke QC) has made a speech at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. It is a far-ranging speech set against the background of financial savings which the coalition government...