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On 1 July 2023, a number of new and revised guidelines from the Sentencing Council will come into effect. Revised animal cruelty guidelines Two guidelines for sentencing offenders convicted of animal cruelty offences, reflecting changes introduced by Parliament in the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, will come into effect. Produced by the Council following consultation,...

Every day, judges and magistrates preside over cases coming before them in court and, if an offender is found guilty, they use sentencing guidelines to determine what the appropriate sentence should be. But what if the offender committed more than one offence? What happens then? Do the courts work out the sentence for each individual...

The Council is consulting on proposed changes to the Totality guideline. The guideline sets out the approach for sentencing an offender for more than one offence or where the offender is already serving a sentence. Used alongside the relevant offence-specific guidelines or the General guideline, it provides sentencers with a framework for reaching a sentence...

The Council has published research looking at the Totality guideline and how it is being used by sentencers. The research explores how useful judges and magistrates find the guideline, how easy it is to apply and where sentencers would like to see changes. The Totality guideline is applied by the courts when sentencing an offender...