Sentencing Council bows to pressure and suspends new 'two tier' guidelines

The Sentencing Council has caved to pressure and suspended plans for new guidelines that could have led to different sentences depending on age, sex and ethnicity, as ministers prepare to force through a law to overturn proposals.

- Jessica Elgot

The climbdown - hours before the guidance would have come into force - comes after a standoff with the Ministry of Justice, which will use emergency legislation to override the guidelines that provoked claims of a "two tier" justice system.

One official described it as a "total victory" for the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

The new guidelines would have required magistrates and judges to consult a pre-sentence report before deciding whether to imprison someone of an ethnic or religious minority, or a young adult, abuse survivor or pregnant woman.

Mahmood had hoped to be able to pass a bill to stop the guidelines through parliament within 24 hours but was told it would be impossible to do so before the Easter recess.

The guidance was due to come into force today, meaning there would have been a confusing short period during which the guidelines would have applied before being made illegal. "Shabana has been working incredibly hard to avert this," one source said.

The decision by the council to suspend the implementation of the guidelines will therefore avoid a potentially chaotic process where the new guidelines would have been in force for a few weeks.

The short bill, which will be presented to the Commons today, will specify that sentencing reports "should not single out specific cohorts for differential treatment".