Government should change law to overrule ‘two-tier’ justice guidance – Badenoch

New guidance for judges to consider a criminal’s ethnicity before deciding their punishment could be overruled by a change in the law to stop “two-tier” justice, the Conservative leader has said.

Kemi Badenoch called for the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to change the law, and said the Conservatives “will back her”, after Ms Mahmood said she would “register my displeasure” to the Sentencing Council over the move.

The independent body published new guidelines for courts to follow when imposing community and custodial sentences, including whether to suspend jail time, on Wednesday.

The changes, which comes into force from April, detail that a pre-sentence report would usually be necessary before handing out punishment for someone of an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, alongside other groups such as young adults aged 18 to 25, women and pregnant women.

“As someone who is from an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law, for anyone of any kind,” she added.

“There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch.”

On Thursday, Mrs Badenoch said: “If the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, doesn’t want a two-tier criminal justice system she should change the law and the Conservatives will back her.

“Ministers should decide, not quangos. Labour need to grip this.”

The previous government was also consulted on the change during the consultation period between November 2023 to February 2024.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer endorsed the Justice Secretary’s call for a reversal of the new guidance for judges, Downing Street said.

Defending the guidance on Wednesday, chairman of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, Lord Justice William Davis, had said: “The reasons for including groups vary but include evidence of disparities in sentencing outcomes, disadvantages faced within the criminal justice system and complexities in circumstances of individual offenders that can only be understood through an assessment.

“Pre-sentence reports provide the court with information about the offender; they are not an indication of sentence.”

Meanwhile, deputy director of the Prison Reform Trust charity, Mark Day, described the calls as a “storm in a teacup”.

“A pre-sentence report (PSR) is simply a way of getting detailed information about an individual’s personal circumstances and background so that the court is informed and able to pass the most effective sentence possible,” he said.

But shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC Today programme that the changes are “dangerous”.

He added: “If you’re asking me, should we try to use things like pre-sentencing reports to socially engineer our criminal justice system so there is equality of outcome rather than equality of treatment? No, I think that’s wrong.”