# Mahmood to review Sentencing Council’s powers amid ‘two-tier’ justice row

Lord chancellor announces move follows claims that new sentencing rules discriminate against white men.

## Introduction

Shabana Mahmood has ordered a review of the powers of the independent body that draws up judges’ sentencing guidelines in England and Wales following claims that new rules discriminate against white men.

The lord chancellor wrote that she “will be reviewing the role and powers of the ” and will introduce new laws “if necessary” after the body recommended changes that would make the ethnicity or faith of an offender a greater factor when deciding whether to jail them.

The development, which will be seen as a threat to the independence of the arms-length body, comes in the wake of a growing political row. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has claimed .

In a letter to the chair of the council, Lord Justice Davis, Mahmood wrote: “I must make clear my displeasure at the direction that this guideline took in recommending differing approaches for those from ethnic minorities, cultural minorities and/or from a faith minority background.

“The guideline states that a pre-sentence report will normally be considered necessary for these cohorts. A pre-sentence report can be instrumental in assisting courts in the determination of their sentence. But the access to one should not be determined by an offender’s ethnicity, culture or religion.

“As someone who is from an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for differential treatment before the law like this.”

Mahmood asked Davis to reconsider the rules as soon as possible.

“I will also be considering whether policy decisions of such import should be made by the Sentencing Council and what role ministers and parliament should play.

“For that reason, I will be reviewing the role and powers of the Sentencing Council alongside the work of the Independent Sentencing Review.

“If necessary, I will legislate in the sentencing bill that will follow that review.”

The guidance, aimed at tackling bias and reducing reoffending, puts more emphasis on the need for pre-sentence reports, which give details of the offender’s background, motives, and personal life before sentencing.

Under the change, which would come into force on 1 April, magistrates and judges would be asked to consult a pre-sentence report before determining whether to imprison someone of an ethnic or religious minority, as well as young adults, abuse survivors, and pregnant women.

At present, black and minority ethnic communities are over-represented at almost all stages of the criminal justice process in  and Wales, and are more likely to be imprisoned and receive longer sentences than white people.

The consultation process on the sentencing guidance concluded last February, when the Conservatives were still in government. An earlier version of the guidelines published last spring was criticised by the then justice secretary, Alex Chalk, as “patronising”.

Mahmood’s intervention will be seen as the latest move by Labour to appeal to right-leaning voters.
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