Criminal Law Legislation Update
| Date | 01 April 1995 |
| Published date | 01 April 1995 |
| Author | Sally Louise Ireland |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9506800202 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Criminal Law
Legislation
Update
*
Sally
Louise
Ireland"
Criminal
Justice
Act
2003
c.44
• The Criminal Justice Act 2003 received Royal Assent on 20 No-
vember
2003. The majority of its provisions are
not
yet in force.
Those in force are
outlined
below.
Provisions
coming
into
force
on 18
December
2003
Life
sentences
Where
a
mandatory
life sentence is passed,
the
court
must
make
either
a'whole-life
order'
(indicating
that
the
offender
should
not
be released),
or
order
that
the
early release provisions in
the
Crime (Sentences) Act
1997 are to apply to
the
offender as soon as he has served
the
part
of his
sentence
specified in
the
order. The
part
of
the
sentence
specified is to be
such as
the
court
thinks appropriate, taking into
account
the
seriousness
of
the
offences sentenced on
that
occasion
and
the
effect of
any
credit for
remand
in custody
that
would
have
been
given if afixed-term
sentence
had
been
passed. The seriousness of
the
offence is to be calculated by
reference to
the
principles in Sched. 21.
Schedule 21 indicates starting points for
minimum
sentences to be
served. The appropriate starting
point
for an offence of 'exceptionally
high seriousness' is a whole-life order, providing
that
the
offender was
over
21
when
the
offence was committed. Offences of 'exceptionally
high seriousness' include aggravated child murders,
murders
involving
terrorism, aggravated multiple murders,
and
murders
by offenders
with
aprevious conviction for murder. Starting points are
then
graded
down
according to
the
seriousness of
the
offence
through
30 years to 15 years
for adults. Examples are given of
the
types of
murders
that
should attract
sentences
with
whole-life orders
and
30-yearstarting points. For offend-
ers
who
were
aged
under
18 at
the
time of
the
offence
the
starting
point
is always 12 years.
Schedule 21 provides that, having
determined
the
appropriate start-
ing point,
the
judge
should
then
take
into
account
any
aggravating or
mitigating factors to
the
extent
not
already
done
in calculating
the
starting point.
It
lists mitigating factors,
and
additional aggravating
factors,
that
may
be relevant. The Schedule does
not
restrict
the
applica-
tion of certain
other
provisions in
the
Act relating to previous convic-
tions, bail
and
guilty pleas.
As well as
the
provisions of Sched. 21,
the
judge
should consider
any
offence guidelines relevant to
the
case
that
are
not
incompatible
with
*As at 19
January
2004.
tBarrister, 18 Red Lion
Court.
90
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