Sentencing
(asked on 12th December 2017) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they monitor and analyse sentences issued for the same or similar offences in order to identify any disparities.
This question was answered on 20th December 2017
It is for the courts to decide the appropriate sentence within the maximum penalty set by Parliament, taking into account the law, any relevant sentencing guidelines and the facts of the individual case.
The Ministry of Justice publish sentencing statistics on a regular basis. As sentencing is entirely a matter for the Judiciary, who are independent, the Ministry of Justice would not comment on perceived disparities between sentences in individual cases.