« Home

Home / Criminology & Criminal Justice » Law » Criminal Justice & Sentencing » Easton & Piper: Sentencing and Punishment 2e » Resources » Developments » Chapter 03

Easton & Piper: Sentencing and Punishment 2e

Chapter 03

3.2.2 Checklist p.84

Stage 13 of the checklist should also include consideration of whether, under the current practice, a victim's surcharge should be imposed. (See page 189).

3.3.1 The Criminal Justice Act 2003 pp 77-78

Section 11 of the CJIA 2008 creates a new s 150A of the CJA 2003 which states that:

1) The power to make a community order is only exercisable in respect of an offence if—
(a) the offence is punishable with imprisonment; or
(b) in any other case, section 151(2) confers power to make such an order.
This means that, when implemented, a community sentence or a sentence for a persistent offender previously fined can only be imposed if the offence is one punishable by imprisonment.

This change was suggested in the Home Office Report Making Sentencing Clearer which stated 6.10: 'It would be possible to legislate to remove the option of the community order from the sentencing menu available to the courts for some offences. Removing the community order sentencing option could apply to a range of minor, non-imprisonable offences for which a fine is normally judged to be the most suitable response.' It further went on to note: 'Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003 all offences, whether imprisonable or not, qualify for a community order provided the individual offence is serious enough to warrant such a sentence. This represents a change from the previous position, when some community disposals were available for all offences and some for imprisonable offences only'.

It therefore suggested two possible legislative options: that the community order option was removed from all non-imprisonable offences or that it continued to be available for imprisonable offences but only those above a particular maximum penalty. Clearly the former view prevailed.

This section has been in force since July 14th 2008.

3.3.2 Mitigation relating to the offender pp 97-98

R v P and Blackburn [2007] EWCA Crim 2290
This case gives detailed advice about the approach to sentencing where the defendant has given assistance to the police in the context of the provisions in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, ss.73-75.

3.5.1 Rights theory pp 107-109.

Baze v Rees 553 US (2008)

The opinion of the Supreme Court in Baze v Rees was published on April 16th, 2008. The majority (7:2) of the Court decided that the lethal injection protocol used in Kentucky did not violate the 8th amendment prohibition on Cruel and Unusual Punishment. This decision paved the way for the resumption of executions.