A controversial quango is under fresh pressure to abandon its ‘two-tier justice’ plan after Britain’s equality watchdog warned it may be discriminatory.
The Sentencing Council has so far refused to back down over its proposal to give special treatment to ethnic minorities and transgender people who are convicted of crimes.
It has rejected requests by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to re-think the guidelines, meaning that from next month courts will have to order pre-sentence reports for minority groups and so make it more likely they are spared jail.
But yesterday the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission revealed she has also intervened in the row – warning the advisory body for judges that it may be breaking the legal requirement for all public bodies to avoid discrimination.
Baroness Falkner told Times Radio she felt a ‘lot of sympathy’ for the Sentencing Council but went on: ‘I do wonder whether it might benefit from another look.
‘I wrote yesterday to the Sentencing Council because we do have some concerns from an Equality Act perspective in terms of the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The Sentencing Council has rejected requests by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to re-think its guidelines
Lady Falkner explained: ‘If having a pre-sentencing report is an advantage, then you run the risk of positive discrimination for those groups that are in the list and not for other groups’
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has threatened to take the council to judicial review on the basis that it is discriminating against white male offenders
‘We’ve offered to assist them in ascertaining whether there might be some discrimination by leaving out some groups and elevating others. So we’re waiting to see whether they would like to avail of our assistance, but we stand ready to assist.’
Lady Falkner explained: ‘If having a pre-sentencing report is an advantage, then you run the risk of positive discrimination for those groups that are in the list and not for other groups.’
She said it would be better if judges sought pre-sentencing reports – which are written by probation officers and provide details on offenders’ personal backgrounds, criminal records and risk factors – ‘on a case-by-case basis, rather than categorising certain groups’.
Meanwhile, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has threatened to take the council to judicial review on the basis that it is discriminating against white male offenders.
Mr Jenrick has also introduced a Bill in Parliament proposing to change the law to give ministers powers to block or rewrite sentencing guidelines.
