The Sentencing Act 2020 is the statute that brought almost all of the sentencing procedure for England and Wales together into one document, known as the Sentencing Code. It applies to anyone convicted of a criminal offence on or after 1 December 2020, regardless of when the offence itself was committed.1Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 Before it came into force, judges and lawyers had to work through hundreds of overlapping provisions scattered across dozens of Acts, which produced frequent errors in court. The Code did not rewrite the law; it reorganised it so that courts, defendants, and victims can find the rules in one place.
Who the Code Applies To and When
The guiding idea is called the “clean break” principle. A court sentencing someone today uses the current Code rather than hunting through repealed legislation to find what was in force on the date of the offence. The conviction date is what matters, not the offence date.
There is one important safeguard. The Code does not expose anyone to a harsher penalty than what could have been imposed at the time the offence was committed.2Law Commission. Sentencing Code Procedural rules are always the current ones, but the maximum sentence available cannot exceed the ceiling that applied when the crime happened. The Act also does not create new mandatory minimums or extend existing ones.
Geographically, the Code covers only England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own sentencing frameworks. Within England and Wales, it applies at every level of the court system, from the Magistrates’ Courts up to the Crown Court.
The Duty to Follow Sentencing Guidelines
Section 59 sets out the core operating rule. Every court must follow the definitive guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council when sentencing an offender, unless satisfied that doing so would be contrary to the interests of justice.3Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 59 That exception is narrow. Simple disagreement with the suggested range is not enough. Where a judge does depart, the reasons must be explained on the record.
The guidelines themselves set offence-specific ranges with starting points based on the harm caused and the offender’s level of responsibility. They are what gives sentencing in England and Wales its measure of consistency.
How Courts Assess Seriousness
Section 63 identifies the two things a court must weigh when judging seriousness: the offender’s culpability in committing the offence, and the harm it caused, was intended to cause, or could foreseeably have caused.4Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 63 Culpability captures the offender’s role, the degree of planning, and whether a vulnerable person was deliberately targeted. Harm covers physical, financial, and psychological damage, including harm that was risked even if it did not actually occur.
On top of that assessment, the Code identifies statutory aggravating factors that push a sentence upward. Committing an offence while on bail, relevant previous convictions, and offending motivated by hostility related to race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or transgender identity all count.5Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Aggravating Factors Previous convictions carry more weight the more recent and relevant they are.
Mitigation pulls the other way. Genuine remorse, absence of previous convictions, acting under some provocation, mental health conditions, and lack of maturity due to age can all reduce severity. The court balances these competing factors against the facts of the case.
Pre-Sentence Reports
Before imposing a custodial or community sentence, the court is usually expected to obtain a pre-sentence report from the Probation Service. For adults, one must be obtained unless the court considers a report unnecessary. For offenders under 18, the court must get one unless a previous report exists and is considered sufficient.6Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 30 A sentence is not automatically invalid if this step is skipped, but failing to obtain a report when the situation called for one can become a ground for appeal.
Credit for a Guilty Plea
Section 73 requires courts to take into account the stage of proceedings at which the offender indicated a guilty plea.7Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 73 The Sentencing Council’s definitive guideline fixes the reductions:
- Guilty plea at the first stage of proceedings: a reduction of one-third.
- After the first stage but before trial: a sliding scale starting at a maximum of one-quarter and decreasing as the case progresses.
- Guilty plea on the first day of trial: a maximum of one-tenth.
The reasoning is that an early plea saves court time, spares victims from testifying, and shows acceptance of responsibility. The later it comes, the less credit it earns.8Sentencing Council. Reduction in Sentence for a Guilty Plea Definitive Guideline
Where a mandatory minimum sentence applies, the reduction cannot take the sentence below 80 percent of the required minimum for adult offenders. A mandatory five-year minimum, for example, cannot be reduced below four years even with maximum credit.7Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 73 For 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of certain weapons offences, the court has broader discretion.
What a Court Can Actually Impose
The Code gives courts a range of sentencing options, chosen according to the seriousness of the offence and the offender’s circumstances. The purposes of sentencing it recognises are punishment, reduction of crime, reform, public protection, and reparation.
Custody and Suspended Sentences
A court cannot impose immediate custody unless the offence is so serious that neither a fine nor a community sentence can be justified.9Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 230 This is the custody threshold, and it exists so prison is genuinely a last resort.
Where the custodial sentence imposed is two years or less, the court can suspend it. A suspended sentence order means the prison term does not take effect unless the offender commits a further offence during the operational period or breaches any community requirements attached to the order.10Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 286 The same types of requirements available for community orders can be attached. Breach can lead the court to activate the original sentence in full or in part.
Community Orders
For offences above the community sentence threshold but below the custody threshold, a community order can be imposed with one or more requirements tailored to the offender. Available requirements include:
- Unpaid work of between 40 and 300 hours, to be completed within 12 months.
- A rehabilitation activity requirement, with no maximum number of days.
- A curfew of up to 20 hours in any 24-hour period, for a maximum of two years.
- Electronic monitoring, which must usually be imposed alongside a curfew.
- Exclusion from a specified place or area for up to two years.
- Drug or alcohol treatment.
- Mental health treatment, where the condition is treatable and the offender consents.
Electronic monitoring for curfew compliance is effectively mandatory unless the court considers it inappropriate in the circumstances, or the necessary arrangements are not available locally.11Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Schedule 9 Part 5 In practice this means an ankle tag that detects whether the offender is at the approved address during curfew hours.12Sentencing Council. Imposition of Community and Custodial Sentences
Fines and Discharges
Fines are the most common sentence in the Magistrates’ Courts. The amount must reflect both the seriousness of the offence and the offender’s financial circumstances.
At the lowest end sit conditional and absolute discharges. A conditional discharge means no penalty is imposed provided the offender commits no further offence during a discharge period of up to three years.13Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 80 If they do reoffend, they can be sentenced for both the new offence and the original one. An absolute discharge imposes no penalty at all. Neither type of discharge is available for offences carrying a mandatory minimum.
Compensation and the Victim Surcharge
The court can order an offender to pay compensation directly to the victim for personal injury, loss, or damage caused by the offence. If the offender cannot afford both a fine and a compensation order, the law requires the court to prioritise compensation.14Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Part 7 Chapter 2 The offender’s means must be considered before the order is made.
Every sentence also triggers a mandatory victim surcharge to fund victim support services. The court has no discretion. For offences committed on or after 16 June 2022, the adult rates are:
- Conditional discharge: £26.
- Fine: between £34 and £190.
- Community sentence: £114.
- Suspended sentence: £154 for six months or less, £187 for over six months.
- Immediate custody: £154 for six months or less, £187 for over six months up to two years, £228 for over two years.
Lower rates apply to offenders under 18.15Sentencing Council. What Is the Surcharge
Minimums, Life Sentences, and Extended Sentences
Each criminal offence has a statutory maximum penalty set by the legislation that created it. The Code does not change those ceilings. It does consolidate the mandatory minimums that apply to certain repeat or dangerous offending:
- Possession of a prohibited firearm: five years for adults.
- A third qualifying Class A drug trafficking offence: seven years.
- A third domestic burglary conviction: three years.
These are set out in sections 311 to 315.16Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 As noted above, a guilty plea can reduce a mandatory minimum by no more than 20 percent for adults.
Life Sentences and Whole Life Orders
For murder, a life sentence is mandatory. The real question is the minimum term before parole eligibility. Schedule 21 sets the starting points: 15 years as the standard, 25 years where the offender brought a weapon to the scene intending to use it, and 30 years for cases the court considers particularly serious.17Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Schedule 21
In the most extreme cases, the court can impose a whole life order, meaning no release. For offenders aged 21 or over, this is assessed against the general Schedule 21 standard. For offenders aged 18 to 20, the threshold is higher still: seriousness must be exceptional even compared with cases that would normally warrant a whole life order for an older offender.18Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Part 10 Chapter 8 The extension to 18-to-20-year-olds was introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 for offences committed on or after 28 June 2022.
Extended Sentences
Where someone is convicted of a specified violent, sexual, or terrorism offence and the court finds a significant risk of serious harm to the public from further offending, it can impose an extended sentence. This is a custodial term plus an extension period of licence after release. The extension period must be at least one year and cannot exceed five years for violent offences or eight years for sexual and terrorism offences.19Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Extended Sentences The offender remains under supervision for longer after release and can be recalled to prison for breach of licence conditions.
An extended sentence is only available where the offender has a previous conviction for a qualifying offence listed in Schedule 14, or where the custodial term itself would be at least four years. A pre-sentence report is required before the court forms its view on the level of risk.
Fixing Sentences After They Are Passed: The Slip Rule
Sentencing errors happen, and the Code provides a quick fix. Under section 385, the Crown Court can vary or rescind a sentence within 56 days of the day it was imposed.20Legislation.gov.uk. Sentencing Act 2020 – Section 385 This is known as the slip rule, and it lets the same court that passed the sentence correct mistakes without a full appeal.
The power has to be exercised by the court as originally constituted, meaning the same judge must handle the correction. Once an appeal or an application for leave to appeal has been determined, the slip rule is no longer available. A varied sentence takes effect from the day it was originally imposed unless the court directs otherwise, and the 56-day window can be extended in cases where multiple defendants were tried separately on related facts.