The Council will be making amendments to a number of sentencing guidelines from 1 April 2022, following the first annual consultation on miscellaneous amendments. 

The amendments are being made to improve clarity and reflect changes in legislation. They relate to:

• breach of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO): clarifying that when the court is dealing with such a breach, it does not have a standalone power to make a fresh order or to vary the order;
• compensation: adding wording relating to giving reasons if compensation is not awarded in all relevant guidelines;
• confiscation: providing fuller information on confiscation in all relevant guidelines;
• racially or religiously aggravated offences: making the uplift for racial/ religious aggravation a separate step and consistent across guidelines for these offences; and
• domestic abuse overarching guideline: revising the definition of domestic abuse in the light of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and expanding it to include a wider range of relationships.

The amended guidelines will be published on our website on or soon after 1 April 2022 and come into force on publication.

The Council will be holding a consultation on miscellaneous amendments annually in which we will consider potential changes to guidelines arising from various sources including case law, changes to legislation and feedback from sentencers.