[ad_1]
Image copyright
fake images
Violent and sex offenders will serve at least two-thirds of jail terms, instead of half, as part of changes to the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Robert Buckland formally announced a revision of the sentencing laws.
The life orders will also be extended to 18-20 year olds convicted of terrorism causing massive loss of life.
Buckland said it marked the end of “complex and confusing” laws.
He said the sentencing changes would ensure that the most serious violent and sexual offenders “get the prison time they deserve.”
More help is promised for those with mental health problems and addictions.
It comes after the criminal justice system was stopped during the coronavirus pandemic.
There are long delays and delays for victims and defendants, facing trial dates years in advance.
Among the new interventions proposed in a White Paper published on Wednesday are:
- the option of a new lifetime fee for murderers under 21
- lifetime orders for adults who murder children, which was a promise of the Conservatives in the general election last year.
- raising the threshold for conviction for serious crimes, including a “third hit” for robberies and “two hits” for knife possession
- new powers to stop the automatic release of criminals who pose a terrorist threat or danger to the public
- Reduce the opportunities for those over 18 who committed murder as children to have their minimum jail sentence reviewed.
- use GPS tags to track thieves, robbers and robbers when they are released from prison
- implement so-called “sobriety labels” to address alcohol-related crimes
And offenders sentenced to four to seven years in prison for serious crimes like rape and involuntary manslaughter will no longer automatically be considered for release at half their jail terms.
While the harsher sentences are among the proposed measures, changes to criminal records are also included to reduce the time offenders have to declare past crimes to employers.
Over the past few days, the government has followed up on its White Paper with a series of eye-catching advertisements promising tougher sentences for terrorists, violent criminals and motorists who kill.
Many of the plans are likely to garner broad public support, while measures to relax criminal record disclosure rules have the potential to make a real difference for ex-offenders struggling to find work.
But the timing of the proposals is somewhat strange, as the government faces the biggest crisis the criminal justice system has faced in decades.
The problems caused by the coronavirus have meant that a large number of overdue trials in England and Wales have gotten even bigger.
The sentencing changes, if they go ahead, will not help the tens of thousands of victims, witnesses and defendants trapped in the backlog who now face the prospect of waiting up to two years for their day in court.
A focus on supporting ex-offenders will see prison sentences “wear out” after 12 months without recidivism, and sentences of up to four years will no longer be disclosed after another four years without offenses.
Sentences of more than four years will not be automatically disclosed to employers after an additional seven-year period of rehabilitation is completed.
Reservation
The sentencing reform announcement comes after lawyers warned that hundreds of thousands of people may have to wait until 2022 for justice to be served, due to delays in the Crown Courts.
Since the shutdown began in March, the backlog of Crown Court cases has risen from 6,000 to 43,000.
The Ministry of Justice has pledged to provide an additional 1,600 court officials and £ 80 million for a range of measures, including more Nightingale courts.
And Buckland has told the BBC that he would “use every tool in the book” to eliminate the pending cases.
Meanwhile, crime detection rates remain low, having fallen from one in seven reports of crimes that led to a charge in 2015 to around one in 14 last year.
