Role of the SGC | Freedom
of Information | Publication Scheme
Publication Charges | Crown Copyright
Information Available | Feedback
Role of the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC)
The Sentencing Guidelines Council was set up under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. It has been created as an independent body, which has taken on work previously undertaken by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) and through the Magistrates’ Association. Positioned between Parliament (which creates offences, provides different sentences for the courts to impose and sets the maximum penalty for each offence) and the courts that pass sentence, the Council produces a robust and comprehensive set of sentencing guidelines for all courts dealing with criminal cases, enabling them to approach a case from a common starting point. The Council creates guidelines across a wide range of issues that are relevant to sentencing.
The Council takes into account the cost of different sentences, the relative effectiveness of different sentences in preventing re-offending, the need to promote consistency in sentencing and the need to promote public confidence in the criminal justice system. The Council is not restricted to these criteria and is expected to give a powerful lead to the approach to sentencing, particularly in the context of the sentencing framework introduced by the 2003 Act.
The Council will keep guidelines under review so that they can be changed and developed as required.
The Council has 12 members; it is chaired by the Lord Chief Justice and has 7 other judicial members and 4 non-judicial members. The Lord Chancellor has appointed the judicial members after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice.
Members must follow the Code of Practice for members of the Sentencing Guidelines Council.
The main functions of the Council are as follows:
The Sentencing Guidelines Council is an Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB).
Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Introduction
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000.
It establishes a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities.
The Act has to be fully implemented across the public sector by 30 November 2005. When the access rights under the Act come into force, if you ask for information from the Sentencing Guidelines Council, you will be entitled (unless it comes under one of the specific exemptions in the Act):
a) to be informed in writing by the Council whether it holds information of the description specified in your request; and
b) if that is the case, to have that information communicated to you
The Act provides for a time limit of 20 days for dealing with a request for information. The Act also provides for an appeal mechanism which means that you may apply to the Information Commissioner for a decision on whether we dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.
The Commissioner’s address is:
The Office of Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Publication Scheme - Introduction
The aim of this Publication Scheme is to explain what information the Sentencing Guidelines Council (SGC) makes available to the public. Under the Act, public authorities have a duty to specify what classes of information they publish, how the information is made available and whether it is available free of charge or upon payment. In this context, “publish” simply means “to make publicly available” in whatever format the information exists (for example as an electronic document, printed book, video or leaflet).
Exemptions
Some information held by public bodies is regarded as exempt information under Part ll of the FOIA. There are 24 such exemptions and they can be applied to information held for a variety of purposes. The exemptions include material related to national security, law enforcement, formulation of government policy, information provided in confidence, commercial interests and personal data (individuals already have the right of access to information about themselves under the Data Protection Act 1998). These exemptions have been considered when determining the content of our Publication Scheme.
Responsibility for the Sentencing Guidelines Council Publication Scheme
The Sentencing Guidelines Council is supported by a Secretariat. The Head of the Secretariat is Kevin McCormac who has overall responsibility for the scheme.
The person responsible for maintaining the Publication Scheme on a daily basis is:
Joanne Savage
Secretary to the Council
Sentencing Guidelines Secretariat
4th Floor, 8-10 Great George Street
London SW1P 3AE
Telephone: 0207 084 8126
Fax: 0207 084 8114
E-mail: joanne.savage@sentencing-guidelines.gsi.gov.uk
Charging for Publication Scheme items
Information on the Internet
Information in hard copy
Material featured in this Publication Scheme is subject to Crown copyright protection unless otherwise indicated. The Crown copyright protected material may be reproduced free of charge in any format or media without requiring specific permissions. This is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and not being used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. Where the material is being published or issued to others, the source and copyright status must be acknowledged.
The permission to reproduce Crown copyright protected material does not extend to any material on this site that is identified as being the copyright of a third party. Authorisation to reproduce such material must be obtained from the copyright holders concerned.
Material marked with an * falls within the ‘value added’ category of Crown copyright. If you wish to re-use a document classed as value added, please apply for a Click-Use licence for value added material at www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/system/online/pLogin/asp.
Alternatively, you may write to:
Office of Public Sector Information
Information Policy Team
St. Clement’s House
2-16 Colegate
Norwich
NR31 BQ
For further information on Crown copyright policy and on the licensing of Crown copyright, see ‘HMSO Guidance Notes – Publishing and Copyright’
issued by HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.
This publication scheme aims to make as much Sentencing Guidelines Council information as possible readily accessible to the public, on a continuous basis.
The classes are as follows:
Under each class can be found:
Unless specifically stated, the address for all postal requests is
Sentencing Guidelines Secretariat
4th floor, 8-10 Great George Street
London
SW1P 3AE
Class 1: |
General information about Sentencing Guidelines Council |
Description: |
Role of SGC and who Council members are |
Class 2: |
Code of Practice |
Description: Format available: Chargeable: |
Guidelines to Council members regarding standards and values, and specific role of members. |
Class 3: |
Press Notices |
Description: |
Press notices since March 2004 |
Class 4: |
* Draft guidelines – published for consultation |
Description: Format available: |
The Council consults about the draft guidelines, Government Ministers, Parliament and others as the Council thinks appropriate. |
Class 5: |
*Guidelines |
Description: |
The Council considers advice from the Sentencing Advisory Panel and, after further consultation, produces definitive sentencing and allocation guidelines for all courts dealing with criminal cases, enabling them to approach a case from a common starting point. |
Class 6: |
Annual Reports |
Description: |
The Council sends a joint Annual Report (with the Sentencing Advisory Panel) to the Lord Chancellor to be laid before Parliament. The Report is then published. |
Class 7: |
*Newsletters |
Description: |
The Council publishes ‘The Sentence’ newsletter. The content of the newsletter may include information on current sentencing issues, effectiveness of sentences and local sentencing data. |
Class 8: |
Minutes of Meetings |
Description:
|
Minutes of meetings held by the Sentencing Guidelines Council. Some of the material in this class is derived from documents that we consider contain exempt information. Where this occurs the material will clearly state where information has been withheld and explain which exemption has been applied and why. |
Class 9: |
*Summaries of guideline judgments |
Description: |
The Council has produced a compendium of summaries of over 100 relevant sentencing guideline and guidance cases to assist sentencers across England and Wales. Summaries of new guideline cases will be added to the website as and when they arise. |
* These documents are ‘value added
Feedback on the publication scheme
This Publication Scheme is intended to help you find Sentencing Guidelines Council information easily and quickly and to improve the flow of information into the public domain. We want to improve our service to you and we would, therefore, welcome any comment or suggestions that you may have about how we could improve the scheme. We are committed to reviewing the scheme and your feedback will help. Please write to Joanne Savage at the address above.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about the operation of this Publication Scheme or how the Sentencing Guidelines Council has dealt with a request for information, please write to:
Head of the Secretariat,
Sentencing Guidelines Secretariat
4th Floor, 8-10 Great George Street
London, SW1P 3AE
Telephone: 020 7084 8130
Fax: 020 7084 8114
E-mail: info@sentencing-guidelines.gsi.gov.uk
