The UK government is facing criticism from legal and human rights groups over emergency legislation introduced by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, which halts the implementation of new Sentencing Council guidelines aimed at improving pre sentencing assessments.
The guidelines, suspended just hours before taking effect, advised courts to consider personal characteristics such as age, sex and ethnicity when ordering pre-sentence reports. Mahmood argued the advice risked creating a “two-tier” justice system, saying she would not support “differential treatment before the law.”
However, as The Guardian reports, 20 organisations — including Amnesty International, the Centre for Women’s Justice and the End Violence Against Women Coalition — have warned that abandoning the guidance could lead to more pregnant women being jailed without proper risk assessments.
“Under the current sentencing guidelines, hundreds of pregnant women every year are sent to prison,” Heidi Stewart, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, told The Guardian. “These women face increased risk of miscarriage, pregnancy complications, and in some of the worst cases, the stillbirth or death of their newborn baby.”
The letter to Mahmood, also seen by The Guardian, argues that without such guidelines, courts may fail to account for the severe health and well-being risks to mothers and babies. It also raises concerns over sentencing disparities among ethnic minority groups, as outlined in David Lammy’s 2017 review.
Stephanie Needleman, Legal Director at Justice, told The Guardian: “Pre-sentence reports help judges understand more about those whose backgrounds are unfamiliar to them, or who have particular health concerns – yet this bill would deny judges adequate guidance.”
The Ministry of Justice maintains that the bill does not prevent courts from requesting pre-sentence reports and affirmed its commitment to reducing the number of women in prison.
Speaking to Asian Voice, Immigration Lawyer Shoaib Khan said, “It is deeply concerning to see the Justice Secretary intervene to halt the Sentencing Council’s new guidelines on pre-sentencing reports. These guidelines were designed to promote fairer and more individualised justice by ensuring that reports before sentencing considered personal characteristics such as pregnancy, age, sex, and ethnicity. Their suspension risks undermining both judicial fairness and human rights protections, particularly for the most vulnerable.
“Pre-sentencing reports are not procedural formalities; they are vital tools that enable judges to fully understand an individual’s circumstances before passing sentence. For pregnant women, for instance, these reports can highlight significant risks to maternal and infant health, and assess whether alternatives to custody are available and appropriate. Without this information, courts may be unaware of the full implications of imprisonment for the woman and her unborn child, potentially leading to avoidable and disproportionate harm.
“This move also has broader implications for minority and marginalised groups, who already face systemic inequalities in the criminal justice system. The halted guidelines aimed to mitigate some of these disparities by ensuring that issues such as racial bias, trauma, social disadvantage, and gendered experiences were considered at sentencing. Suspending these reforms risks entrenching injustice rather than addressing it.
“While the government insists that judges still 'may” request pre-sentencing reports, removing clear national guidance creates uncertainty and inconsistency in sentencing practice. Vulnerable defendants should not have to rely on discretionary decisions in the hope that their background will be properly taken into account.
“Sentencing decisions directly impact liberty, family life, and physical and mental well-being, rights protected under both domestic and international human rights law. To ensure justice is truly just, the system must be equipped and required to take into account each person’s circumstances. Halting these guidelines takes us in the opposite direction.”