• Report: Research review of the Overarching principles: domestic abuse sentencing guideline – HTML version
• Report: Research review of the Overarching principles: domestic abuse sentencing guideline – PDF version
• Response: Sentencing Council response to the review – HTML version
• Response: Sentencing Council response to the review – PDF version

The Sentencing Council is required under its statutory duties to review the performance of its guidelines. Following public consultation in 2020, the Council identified five Strategic objectives for 2021-2026. These included a commitment to “explore the impact and implementation of the domestic abuse overarching guideline by undertaking an evaluation”.

In support of this objective, the Council commissioned Nottingham Trent University in October 2023 to conduct a review of the guideline.

The review focuses on:

• sentencers’ understanding, interpretation, implementation, application and views of the overarching domestic abuse sentencing guideline
• how the guideline is used in sentencing, and
• the impact of the presence of domestic context on sentences

A mixed-method approach was employed consisting of:

• an online survey of sentencers exploring sentencers’ use and views about the guideline
• semi-structured interviews with sentencers to allow for a more in-depth discussion of relevant issues
• Content analysis of Crown Court sentencing remarks
• a systemic review of sentencing appeal judgments related to the overarching guideline and domestic abuse, and
• statistical analysis of a relevant sample of data from court data collections collected by the Council

The review found that 87 per cent of sentencers surveyed thought the guideline was helpful in sentencing and 95 per cent were satisfied with its structure and usability. Some sentencers suggested further guidance would be helpful in particular areas but others felt the guideline was adequate and already long. In light of these findings, we have concluded that no significant revisions need to be made to the guideline but we have identified some areas where minor changes would improve the clarity and accessibility of the guideline.

Please see the report for a comprehensive outline of the findings of the review as well as the Council’s response, which sets out our consideration of the research and the resulting actions.