Commencement of increased sentencing powers covered widely by the media Commencement of increased sentencing powers covered widely by the media MA views feature prominently following Royal Assent 06 May 2022 We are pleased that the MA’s views on this historic reform were featured by a wealth of print and online national, local and sector-specific publications. Read more
MA calls for changes to reduce impact of crown court backlogs on cases involving violence against women and girls MA calls for changes to reduce impact of crown court backlogs on cases involving violence against women and girls MA national chair calls for implementation of changes to magistrates' jurisdiction, to ease the burden on crown courts 08 October 2021 The MA national chair, Bev Higgs, has written to The Guardian newspaper calling for magistrates' jursidiction to be increased to a 12-month custodial sentence for a single offence to help reduce the backlog of cases in the crown courts and thus speed up the process of justice. Read more
Youth Courts and Sentencing Ten-Minute Rule Bill Youth Courts and Sentencing Ten-Minute Rule Bill New Bill relating to MA policy priority 12 March 2021 Read more
Government sentencing white paper announced Government sentencing white paper announced John Bache, Chair of the MA, responds 16 September 2020 Read more
Proposed sentencing guidelines for firearms offences published Proposed sentencing guidelines for firearms offences published Sentencing Council launch public consultation 16 October 2019 Read more
New sentencing guidelines regarding public order offences New sentencing guidelines regarding public order offences The Sentencing Council publishes seven definitive guidelines for use in court while sentencing offenders for public order offences 15 October 2019 Read more
Law Commission report on the Sentencing Code Law Commission report on the Sentencing Code Government response 07 June 2019 Read more
Sentencing Council Expanded Explanations consultation response Sentencing Council Expanded Explanations consultation response MA response 28 May 2019 Read more
Crest Advisory report into the impact of Scotland's presumption against short sentences Crest Advisory report into the impact of Scotland's presumption against short sentences Presumption against short sentences 14 May 2019 Read more
Court of Appeal ruling on sentencing 18-year-olds Court of Appeal ruling on sentencing 18-year-olds Judgment demonstrating that a person's immaturity and how that contributes to their way of offending is relevant mitigation 26 March 2019 Read more