Help

Offence specific guidelines

Find an offence specific guideline using the “Search offences” box

You can find an offence specific guideline by:

  • entering the name of the offence in the “Search offences” box.
  • entering a keyword such as bribery, knives, sex, importation
  • entering the name of the relevant Act and/or section, eg Explosive Substances Act 1883, Public Order Act, section 5.

Find an offence specific guideline using the A to Z index

  • The index includes all offence specific guidelines
  • Guidelines listed in purple have not yet come into effect.
  • The A to Z index does not include overarching guidelines

Find an offence specific guideline by type

  • Click on the downward arrow to the left of the “Select offence type” box
  • Scroll down to select the correct offence type
  • All offences of that type will be displayed in the A to Z list
  • Select your guideline from the A to Z list

When you select an offence type in the drop-down list, only offences of that type will be displayed in the A to Z list. To use the other search options or re-load the full A to Z list of all offences, select “All offences” in the drop-down list.

Can’t find the offence specific guideline you are looking for?

  • Is there an offence type selected in the drop-down offence type list?

If so, you will need to clear the offence type search before using the other search options. Select “All offences” in the drop-down list.

When you select an offence type in the drop-down list, only related offences will be displayed in the A to Z list. You will need to clear this selection if you want to use the other search options or re-load the full A to Z list of all offences.

  • Are you using a keyword?

We might not have included all the possible keywords for all the offences. Please try your search another way, and please let us know what keyword you were using, and for which guideline, so we can include it for future searches (info@sentencingcouncil.gov.uk)

  • Have you tried all the search options?

There could be an error on the website or there might not be a guideline for this offence. Please contact us to confirm: info@sentencingcouncil.gov.uk

Offences listed in purple

These offences have been published but have not yet come into effect. The “effective from” date is shown in the title of the offence.

Overarching guidelines

Find an overarching guideline

  • Go to the search page, click on the on the Overarching Guidelines tab
  • From any page, click the “book” icon in the left-hand menu.

Open a guideline in a new tab

  • Select the guideline title
  • Right-click on the title
  • Select “open in new tab”
  • To close the tab, click on the X on the right of the tab label

Print or create a temporary pdf of any guideline

  • Open the page you want to print
  • To include hidden content such as Applicability, open the relevant drop-down box before printing.
  • Click on the print icon in the top right-hand corner of the page
  • To make a print copy, select your local printer.
  • To make a pdf copy, select “Adobe PDF” or “Save to pdf”, and follow the instructions to save the pdf to your computer.

Do not retain these copies. Only the online version of a guideline is guaranteed to be up to date.

Work with more than one guideline at a time

  • Open each of the guidelines you want to use in a separate tab. Do this by right-clicking on the title.
  • Click on the labels at the top of the tabs to switch between guidelines.
  • To close a tab, click on the X on the right of the tab label.

Magistrates’ court sentencing guidelines

There is a link to the magistrates’ court sentencing guidelines on the “Useful information and links” page.

Click (i) in the left-hand menu.

Bench books and the Crown Court Compendium

Select the (i) icon from the left-hand menu

Where to go for help

For help with using the digital sentencing guidelines or if you would like to report a problem or make a suggestion, please contact the Sentencing Council at: Info@sentencingcouncil.gov.uk

Judges and Magistrates

For IT help and support, including wifi and eJudiciary (including passwords), visit the IT Help and Support pages of the Judicial Intranet.

If you can’t find the right help on the Judicial Intranet, please contact your local Digital Support Officer (DSO). DSOs are HMCTS staff who are trained to handle digital problems, like setting up multiple screens or help with installing printers. You can find the telephone number for your local DSO on this map (select the nearest green gavel icon).

In your court building, you can identify the local DSO from their bright green lanyard. Also look out for posters that will tell you how to find your local DSO.