Judges to be forced to hand out shorter sentences

13 April 2012

Judges could be forced by law to give softer sentences to criminals if jails are full, the Lord Chancellor has indicated.

Lord Falconer said the drastic policy would be considered when he takes charge of prisons policy in May.

He also refused to rule out the early release of hundreds of criminals reaching the end of their sentence, such as burglars and muggers - an idea Home Secretary John Reid has rejected.

Lord Falconer's comments came as the overcrowding crisis worsened dramatically. The number of inmates surged by more than 100 in a single night - taking the population to an all-time high of 80,316.

Even police cells which Ministers have been using to help cope are almost full, with only three remaining yesterday. Some 397 were in use, at a cost of hundreds of pounds each per night.

In the short term, convicts are expected to be housed in cells beneath courts. This week, four offenders spent the night under courts in London.

But Lord Falconer, who will also take charge of probation in the new Ministry of Justice, refused to rule out far more controversial steps in coming months.

Mr Reid, currently in charge of prisons, rejected plans for the 'executive release' of some inmates up to two weeks early to free spaces. He feared political damage to his 'tough' image, as well as a public backlash.

But Lord Falconer indicated it could happen when he is in charge. He said: "I'm not saying anything in detail about what policy will be in relation to prisons until I become Secretary of State for Justice on May 9."

He was also asked if the Government would make a new attempt to force judges to take the jail population into account before they hand down a prison sentence.

It could lead to shorter terms or even to some offenders being given a community sentence when they might ordinarily have gone to jail.

It was first attempted by Labour three years ago, but abandoned.

Lord Falconer said the idea would be considered. "The current position is, it is not for the judges to take into account what resources there are," he said.

"If that were to become the case then I think it would have to be dealt with by legislation. In relation to policy like that we need to look at it after May 9."

The suggestion is likely to further anger the judiciary. On Thursday the most senior judge in England and Wales, Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips, expressed reservations about splitting the Home Office in two to create the Ministry of Justice, saying it could create 'recurrent crisis'.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "Robust criminal justice means judges sentence according to crime, not the Government's expedience.

"This fiasco is a direct result of the Government's failure to heed our warnings and their own projections."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in