A bill to legally prevent new sentencing guidelines on how ethnic minority criminals should be punished will be introduced today, the justice secretary said.
Shabana Mahmood told MPs in the House of Commons the Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence reports) Bill would be presented on Tuesday to stop the guidance coming into effect.
The independent Sentencing Council said a pre-sentence report, the results of which are taken into account when considering a criminal’s sentence, will “usually be necessary” before handing out punishment for someone from an ethnic, cultural or faith minority.
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However, Ms Mahmood called the guidance “unacceptable” and said it amounted to “differential treatment before the law” as she urged the council to reverse it.
The council refused so she said she would legislate to overturn the guidance – which is what she is now doing.
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After Downing Street said on Monday the government planned to introduce legislation on Tuesday and to push it through quickly, the Sentencing Council suspended the guidance, due to come in today.
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Ms Mahmood also announced on Tuesday the government would carry out a review of the Sentencing Council “in the coming months”.
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“Should further legislation be required, I shall propose it as part of the upcoming Sentencing Bill,” she added.
The justice secretary acknowledged the council “holds an important position” within the justice system.
She also said pre-sentence reports are “an incredibly vital tool for judges before passing sentence”.
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Conservative justice secretary Robert Jenrick claimed magistrates and judges were only informed of the guidance suspension at midday, so said some may have used the guidance in sentencing that morning.
He accused Ms Mahmood of having “completely lost control of the justice system” and said her “incompetence took this down to the wire”.
But she dismissed his criticisms, saying he had never raised these issues while in government and said communication of the suspension was up to the Sentencing Council.
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Mr Jenrick had previously called the guidance “two-tier justice” as he said it would lead to “blatant bias” against Christians and straight white men.
He also argued that it would make “a custodial sentence less likely for those from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community” – something the council denied.
