1 Introduction
1. In November 2003, the then Home Secretary, the
Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, invited the Sentencing Advisory Panel
to consider sentencing in domestic violence cases. His concern
was that courts should treat domestic violence as seriously as
other cases of violence, and for sentencing to reflect this.[1]
2. Two draft guidelines on domestic violence were
published by the Sentencing Guidelines Council on 11 April 2006.
Overarching Principles: Domestic Violence deals with the
general principles relevant to the sentencing of cases involving
violence that has occurred in a domestic context. There is no
specific offence of domestic violence, and conduct amounting to
domestic violence can be covered by a wide range of offences:
not only assaults, but criminal damage, harassment, threats to
injure or kill, false imprisonment, and sexual offences. The list
is not exhaustive.
3. Breach of a Protective Order, the second
draft guideline, addresses breaches of restraining or non-molestation
orders imposed in order to prevent harassment or fear of violence,
or the molestation of others. It anticipates the implementation
of the relevant sections of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims
Act 2004 which will make restraining orders available following
acquittal, and non-molestation orders punishable by up to five
years' imprisonment.
4. The Sentencing Guidelines Council took into account
advice it had received from the Sentencing Advisory Panel (also
published on 11 April 2006), based on wide consultation initiated
by its Consultation Paper of 12 July 2004. There were 45 responses.
We received our own responses (see List of written evidence) to
the consultation guidelines after publication, and are grateful
to those who supplied them. We express our thanks to Ken MacDonald
QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Chief Constable Brian
Moore of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Nicola Harwin,
Chief Executive of Women's Aid and Jo Todd, Director of RESPECT,
for giving us an informal briefing on developments in the broader
domestic violence context.
5. In the last Parliament our predecessor Committee
agreed to a request from the Government that it should undertake
regular scrutiny of draft sentencing guidelines issued by the
Sentencing Guidelines Council. Our predecessors produced a report
on the initial draft guidelines.[2]
This described the Committee's role, which is consultative, as
follows:
"We do not envisage our function as being
to give or withhold formal approval of each guideline, or to provide
extended analysis of its contents, but to focus on particular
issues of concern or interest to Parliament or the public. Where
we consider that a draft guideline raises major issues, we will
make a report to the House on these. In the case of other guidelines
we will supply our comments to the Council in the form of a letter
from the Chairman, which we will also publish on our website".[3]
6. In the present Parliament we have produced a report
on the Robbery draft guideline, and have written to the
Lord Chief Justice, Chairman of the Sentencing Guidelines Council,
with our responses to the Custody Plus draft guideline.[4]
7. This Report contains some preliminary background,
a brief resume of the two draft guidelines relating to domestic
violence, and then our comments on particular issues of concern.
1 Foreword to Overarching Principles: Domestic Violence Back
2
Home Affairs Committee, Fifth Report of Session 2003-04, Draft
Sentencing Guidelines 1 and 2 (HC 1207), published on 4 November
2004. The guidelines were on Reduction in sentence for a guilty
plea and Overarching principles: Seriousness/New Sentences':
Criminal Justice Act 2003. Back
3
Ibid., para 9 Back
4
Home Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session 2005-06, Draft
Sentencing Guideline: Robbery (HC 947), published on 7 March
2006; letter dated 16 May 2006 from the Chairman of the Committee
to the Lord Chief Justice giving the Committee's response to the
draft guideline on Custodial Sentences of Less Than 12 Months:
Criminal Justice Act 2003(published on the Committee's website).
The Committee did not make substantive comments on the draft guidelines
on Manslaughter (which was issued when the Committee was
unnominated following the General Election of 2005) or Allocation. Back
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