Sentencing (criminal)
Research Topic
Language: English
This is a research topic created to provide authors with a place to attach new problem publications.
Research problems linked to this topic
- How has the use of non-custodial sentencing changed over time?
- How do individuals in the courts and tribunals system vary by, for example, protected characteristics, socio-economic or socio-demographic background? How do these characteristics compare across jurisdiction and case type?
- How do changes in tariffs, including minimum and maximum sentence lengths or the way life tariffs are calculated, affect sentencing behaviour?
- What are the enablers and barriers to effective sentences, including community-based, alternative or short custodial sentences? Are certain types or requirements of sentences, or recommended treatment programmes, more effective for different individuals and groups?
- How do different individuals and groups perceive their experiences of legal aid services? How does this vary by the nature of their legal problem, advice and support acquired, jurisdiction and outcome?
- What are the outcomes of receiving legal aid, and how do they vary by the type of service and time at which they were provided? What are the long-term outcomes for those who access and those who do not, but are eligible for legal aid?
- How prevalent is repeat victimisation and who does it affect? What is the overlap between being a victim and committing an offence, and how does this vary by, for example, crime type and demographic characteristics?
- What are the reasons for case attrition and what works to avoid it, for different case types? What are the impacts of case attrition on victims, particularly for serious violence and sexual abuse cases?
- What factors affect the likelihood of different groups receiving different sentences, including custodial, community or other court disposal sentences? How do sentencing recommendations vary by the availability of different options?
- How can short periods in custody be made more effective at reducing reoffending? What are the effects of longer custodial sentences on crime?
- Approaches to lifetime offender management and deterrence of continuing criminal behaviour, such as Serious Crime Prevention Orders.
- What is the impact of home detention curfew, in advance of custodial sentence completion, on individual outcomes and risk to public protection? How can home detention curfew be improved?
- How can we better understand flows into the courts and tribunals system, reasons for entry, and the impact of external organisations and their activities?
- How effective are different prison types, categories and functions, such as reception, training and resettlement, in meeting their core objectives?
- How can we better understand the opportunities and impact of the use of digital technology on those engaging with the courts and tribunals system?
- What are the implications (for both safety and insurance) of people continuing to drive with high numbers of penalty points or immediately after serious offences (as only the courts can disqualify someone from driving)?
- How do licence period, conditions, and durations affect the potential for recalls, and what are the downstream impacts on individual outcomes and risks to public protection?
- What makes an effective pre-sentence report (PSR)? How do PSR’s – including language usage – affect sentence length, type, and consistency? What factors influence the use of PSR’s – including judicial views and confidence – and why has this changed over time?
- How does case progression, case timeliness, cost-to-access (where appropriate), and eventual outcome vary by jurisdiction and case type? What works, at which stage, and for whom, to improve the efficiency of case progression?
- Effectively managing violent offenders who pose a risk to the public
- How can anti-social, violent, and criminal behaviour linked to alcohol and drug use be addressed beyond traditional criminal sentencing?
- How can we measure the quality of case outcomes across different jurisdictions, types of cases, and for the individuals and organisations involved? Including whether the court or tribunal was the ‘right’ method of resolution.
- What factors impact sentencers’ confidence in using non-custodial sentences?
- Improving our understanding of criminal justice approaches which are most effective in reducing re-offending
- What explains public confidence in criminal sentences? How can public confidence be improved?
- What are the career pathways and recruitment journeys into the judiciary? How do protected characteristics and social mobility affect recruitment?
- How can we define and measure procedural justice and (subjective) fairness? How does this vary by jurisdiction, and protected characteristics?