The members of the Sentencing Council have been pushed into a humiliating climbdown – but it may well be too late to save them. The pressure rose over the weekend, with the Lord Chancellor and Prime Minister stating that they were considering emergency legislation in order to prevent the Council’s new, ‘two tier’ guidelines over Pre-Sentence Reports for ethnic minorities from coming into force.
Yesterday morning the Lord Chancellor put more pressure on the Council when she met Lord Justice William Davis, its chairman, and informed him that she would be bringing in immediate legislation this week to render the controversial section of the guidelines unlawful. In response, Davis crumbled. The Sentencing Council issued a statement insisting that while ‘its guidelines…[are] necessary and important’ they have ‘chosen to delay’ them until the new law receives Royal Assent. Even when defeated and surrendering it seems as though Davis and his Council are still trying to win the argument.
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