The Law Society Gazette – White paper promises ‘smarter’ sentencing to cut crime

In this article regarding  the Government’s newly announced sentencing white paper, Christopher Stacey welcomed the proposals to reduce disclosure periods but highlighted the fact that  around two-thirds of the 8,000 people every year who receive sentences of over four years would be excluded from the proposals.

Christopher said: ‘The risk of reoffending is consistently lower for those who have served longer sentences, and data on reoffending by index offence shows sexual and violent offences have lower rates of reoffending than many other categories. Exclusions by offence type risk creating unfairness and anomalies at the margins, further entrenching racial injustice and embedding the idea that some people are inherently incapable of rehabilitation. To genuinely support people striving to turn their lives around through work, all sentences of over four years should be capable of becoming ‘spent’ at some point.’

You can read the full article here.