What factors influence sentencing in the courts of England and Wales?

Sentencing is seen as an important aspect of the criminal justice system and has been used as a way of dealing with offenders since the founding of the law system as we know it. It is not a simple process however, as many considerations must be taken into account before an appropriate sentence can be imposed. For example, should the main aim of sentencing to be to protect the public from the offender or purely …

…said that there are many factors that can have an influence on sentencing in England and Wales. It is important to look at both the procedure for cases in general and for those that are more specific in nature to truly understand why decisions are made. Unfortunately, it is difficult to ascertain whether or not personal factors such as ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status have any bearing on the punishments that are therefore handed out.