Sentencing in the Crown Court: New Data, New Findings
- Date: Friday 12 February 2016, 13:00 – 15:00
- Location: Liberty Building SR (G.33)
- Cost: Free, but registration is required in advance
This seminar reports and discusses original empirical analyses from a new (and unique) sentencing database derived from the Crown Court and will be chaired by Professor Julian Roberts.
Sentencing in the Crown Court: New Data, New Findings
The data are provided by the Crown Court sentencer at the time of sentencing. This permits more accurate picture of sentencing patterns and trends, and generates fresh insight into sentencers’ decision-making. In this seminar we will address the following series of questions and provide insights into future avenues of research on the topic.
- Has sentencing consistency improved following the introduction of sentencing guidelines?
- How do courts use previous convictions at sentencing – in a strictly cumulative way or following the progressive loss of mitigation?
- Which mitigating factors carry most weight at sentencing?
- What levels of discount are awarded defendants who plead guilty and how closely do these reductions track the guideline’s recommendations?
- What effect did the 2011 riots have on sentencing principles of consistency and proportionality?