Sentencing body rebuffs minister in 'two-tier' row

The body advising judges on criminal sentences in England and Wales has refused a request from the justice secretary to change guidance at the centre of a row about "two-tier justice".

The Sentencing Council has told judges to review the lives of offenders from ethnic minority and other backgrounds before deciding on punishment.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood says the guidance - which comes into force next Tuesday - is "unacceptable", adding: "There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch."

But the advisory body has refused to change it, saying instead that it would "clarify language" to "correct the widespread misunderstanding" of the guidance.

Mahmood said she was "extremely disappointed" by council chair Lord Justice Davis's response, adding: "All options are on the table and I will legislate if necessary."

"I have been clear in my view that these guidelines represent differential treatment, under which someone's outcomes may be influenced by their race, culture or religion," said the Labour minister.

"This is unacceptable, and I formally set out my objections to this in a letter to the Sentencing Council last week."

The updated guidance, which comes into force from 1 April, says a pre-sentence report will usually be necessary before handing out punishment for someone of an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups such as young adults aged 18 to 25, women and pregnant women.

The guidance was thrust into the spotlight earlier this month when shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick argued it would make prison sentences "less likely" for ethnic minorities - something the council denies.

Mahmood had a meeting with Lord Justice Davis last week and set out in a letter that government policy opposes "differential treatment" based on race or ethnicity in the courts.

But in correspondence published on Friday, Lord Justice Davis said the council has decided the guideline "did not require revision".

"The council respectfully disagreed with the proposition that the list of cohorts in the guideline represented an expression of policy.

"In providing a list of cohorts, the council was and is only concerned with judges and magistrates being provided with as much information as possible."

He said the council agreed any systemic issue relating to ethnic groups is a matter for policy, adding: "Any judge or magistrate required to sentence an offender must do all that they can to avoid a difference in outcome based on ethnicity.

"The judge will be better equipped to do that if they have as much information as possible about the offender. The cohort of ethnic, cultural and faith minority groups may be a cohort about which judges and magistrates are less well informed."

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch had earlier called for Mahmood to change the law and said the Conservatives "will back her".