Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17)

SECOND GROUP OF PARTS U.K. Provisions applying to sentencing courts generally

PART 4 E+W Exercise of court's discretion

CHAPTER 2 E+W Sentencing guidelines

62 Sentencing guidelines duties: interpretation E+W

(1) In this Chapter—

• “mental disorder”, in relation to a person, has the same meaning as in the Mental Health Act 1983;

• “the principal guidelines duty” means the duty, imposed by section 59(1)(a), of a court, in sentencing an offender, to follow any sentencing guidelines which are relevant to the offender's case;

• “offence-specific guidelines” means any sentencing guidelines issued in relation to a particular offence which are structured in the way described in section 121(2) to (5) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (and “the offence-specific guidelines”, in relation to an offence, means, if any such guidelines have been issued in relation to the offence, those guidelines);

• “the sentencing starting point”, in relation to the offence range, has the meaning given by section 121(10) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.

(2) For the purposes of this Chapter—

(a) references to the following are to be read in accordance with section 121 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (sentencing ranges)—

• the offence range;

• the category range;

• the starting point;

• the appropriate starting point;

(b) offence-specific guidelines describe different seriousness categories if they describe different categories of case in accordance with subsection (2) of that section.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 62 in force at 1.12.2020 by S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2