This book explores the law, philosophy, and wider implications of that brief but highly consequential moment when a judge imposes sentence on a convicted offender.
Sentencing is one of the most contested aspects of contemporary criminal justice. It is an important field of study, both as an instance of coercive state power over the citizen and as the point at which the statutory purposes of punishment are given public expression.
Focusing on England and Wales, with occasional comparative reference to sentencing practice around the world, topics include the legal and ethical implications of pleading guilty, the origin and development of sentencing guidelines, and the 'ordinary' language in which the sentence itself must be pronounced in open court. Tensions arise over the appropriate treatment of cohorts including the young, racialised, mentally disordered, and dangerous, and the disparate outcomes such treatment can generate.
At a time of unprecedented crisis – from the phenomenon of 'sentence inflation' 50 years in the making, to the criminal court backlog, to an overcrowded prison estate – the book concludes with an appraisal and critique of the Sentencing Act 2026. The Act was pitched as a once-in-a-generation attempt at substantive justice reform, but its precise impact remains to be seen.
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