Remove the 28 day time limit from the unduly lenient sentence scheme for murder

I would like the Government to remove the 28-day time limit for applying to the lenient sentence scheme to have a sentence reviewed, for convictions of murder.

Currently the families of murder victims have no recourse against an unduly lenient sentence, if they do not apply within 28 days.

I am campaigning for this change because my sister was murdered in 2013. We believe her killer meets the criteria for a whole life order but he was only given a minimum sentence of 35 years. We believe this is too low, and that we should have the right to apply to have this sentence reviewed.

Under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) Scheme, the Attorney General and Solicitor General have the power under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to refer certain serious offences sentenced in the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal if they believe it might be unduly lenient. The Court of Appeal will then review the sentence and may decide to dismiss and replace it with a sentence that it considers more appropriate. Referrals must be carried out by the Attorney General no later than 28 days after the sentence was imposed. This is a statutory fixed time limit to ensure there is finality in sentencing.

Anyone can ask the Attorney General or Solicitor General to consider referring a sentence to the Court of Appeal; not just victims or relatives of the victim, but also members of the public, the Crown Prosecution Service and parliamentarians. This is intended to take the burden off the victims and their families to make a timely request in what we recognise are particularly difficult circumstances.

While we can understand calls for the limit to be extended, particularly for victims and their families, Parliament intended the ULS scheme to be an exceptional power. It is important that there is finality in sentencing, and that we avoid ongoing uncertainty, for both victims and offenders, about the sentence to be served. Any expansion of the scheme must therefore be carefully considered.

The Law Commission is undertaking a review of criminal appeals, which includes the ULS scheme. On 27th February, they launched a public consultation which invites views on a range of reforms to the ULS Scheme, including on extensions of the statutory time limit. The consultation is open to all and runs until 30 May, and responses from those with experience or interest are strongly encouraged. Responses to the consultation may be submitted using an online form at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/law-commission/criminalappeals. We recommend reading the full consultation paper before responding to this consultation. If anyone cannot or does not wish to, they can read the summary consultation paper and respond to it here (https://consult.justice.gov.uk/law-commission/criminalappealssummary).

The Government will carefully consider the recommendations made in the Law Commission final report in due course.

Ministry of Justice