This report will contain findings from a research review that explores sentencers’ understanding, interpretation, implementation, application and thoughts about the Sentencing Council’s overarching guideline on domestic abuse, as well as the impact of the presence of domestic abuse on the sentence. The review draws on analysis of data from 12 data collection exercises undertaken in magistrates’ courts and locations of the Crown Court in England and Wales, an online survey completed by sentencers, semi-structured interviews with sentencers, transcripts of Crown Court sentencing remarks, and sentencing appeal judgments related to the overarching guideline and domestic abuse.

The research review will be published on Tuesday 10 December 2024