Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has taken action to prevent the Sentencing Council from issuing guidelines that suggested considering an offender’s ethnicity in sentencing decisions. In response to the Council’s proposal in March to factor in ethnicity when determining prison terms due to significant disparities in the system, Mahmood strongly opposed the idea, citing concerns about unequal treatment.
Today, the Lord Chancellor is implementing new regulations that mandate Mahmood’s explicit approval before any guidelines are released. Despite anticipating criticism, she emphasized that this move is intended to enhance oversight without impeding the independence of judges.
Mahmood emphasized that while individual sentencing is the judiciary’s responsibility, policy-making is the domain of lawmakers accountable to the public. She stressed the importance of democratic and judicial supervision over the Council’s activities and published guidelines.
The Justice Secretary faced backlash earlier this year for her stance on the Sentencing Council’s directives. Former Tory Justice Secretary Robert Buckland criticized her reaction as a hasty response that disregarded the Council’s independence.
The controversy arose when the Sentencing Council issued new instructions to judges regarding pre-sentence reports (PSRs) last Wednesday. PSRs provide additional information about offenders to assist courts and do not necessarily lead to leniency in sentencing.
The Council recommended requesting PSRs in all cases to gather details on an offender’s personal background, risk of harm, behavioral causes, or other relevant factors. The guidelines highlighted specific groups, such as ethnic or faith minorities, transgender individuals, those with addictions, pregnant individuals, and victims of abuse or coercion, as potential beneficiaries of PSRs.
In an unusual alignment, Mahmood supported Tory MP Robert Jenrick, who denounced the guidelines as promoting a “two-tier justice” system. Mahmood criticized the inclusion of ethnicity in the list as “social engineering” and biased against heterosexual white males.
The new measures will be enacted today as part of the Sentencing Bill, granting the Justice Secretary and Lady Chief Justice individual authority to approve future guidelines separately before release.