Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will issued sentencing guidelines for people convicted of supporting Hamas during university protests.

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT) makes it an offence to invite support for; recklessly express support for; or arrange a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation. Section 13 of TACT makes it an offence to wear clothing or carry articles in public, which arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation, and publish an image of an item of clothing or other article, such as a flag or logo in the same circumstances. Proscription offences can carry a maximum penalty of up to 14 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

While everyone is entitled to their political opinions, and higher education providers have duties to take reasonably practicable steps to secure freedom of speech and academic freedom within the law, any discussions and protests must be lawful. Inciting others to violence or terrorism is not protected speech. In these instances, we would expect university leaders to take robust action, particularly where there are concerns that a criminal act may have been committed, including reporting crimes to the police.

The investigation and prosecution of criminal offences, including determining whether an offence has been committed or not, is a matter for the police and Crown Prosecution Service, which are operationally independent. Sentencing decisions in individual cases are a matter for the independent judiciary.

Sentencing guidelines are developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, in fulfilment of its statutory duty to do so. All sentencing courts in England and Wales must follow any sentencing guidelines which are relevant to the offender’s case, unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so (by virtue of section 59 of the Sentencing Code). The court must give reasons when departing from the guidelines.

The Sentencing Council has issued a package of guidelines on terrorism offences, including the s.12 TACT offence of support of a proscribed organisation, which provide the Court with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. They set out different levels of sentence based on the harm caused and how culpable the offender is. The guidelines also include non-exhaustive lists of aggravating and mitigating factors which can result in an upward or downward adjustment in the sentence. The guidelines can be found online at the Council’s website: https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/.