AN “outrageous” decision to give special treatment to ethnic minority and transgender criminals will be fought in the courts by the Tories.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has pledged a Judicial Review of the new sentencing guidelines if ministers fail to force a u-turn.
PAShadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has vowed to fight the Sentencing Council in the courts[/caption]
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has slapped down the Sentencing Council
The Sentencing Council yesterday sparked fury for telling judges to take into account someone’s ethnicity, religion and gender when deciding whether to jail them.
Labour’s Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has distanced herself from the “two-tier” rules and demanded they be scrapped.
But she cannot currently force the independent body to follow her orders, meaning they can ignore her rebuke.
Mr Jenrick has demanded a law change to let ministers overrule the unelected quango, and has hired a top KC to fight the decision.
He said: “‘I will be challenging this sentencing guidance in the courts on the grounds it enshrines anti-white and anti-Christian bias into our criminal justice system.
“And if Labour won’t amend the law to prevent this, the Conservatives will. There are few more important principles than equality under the law – we will fight tooth and nail to defend it.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch added: “Ministers should decide not quangos. Labour needs to grip this.”
Ms Mahmood last night slammed the new rules and demanded a u-turn.
She said: “These guidelines do not represent my views or the views of this government.
“I will be writing to the Sentencing Council to register my displeasure and recommend reversing this change to guidance.
The Sentencing Council yesterday announced it was drastically widening the criteria for when a pre-sentence report is provided to the court.
Judges are usually handed the reports when weighing whether someone should be locked up or not, including details of their criminal record and plea.
But updated guidelines now say one should be made if the offender is “from an ethnic minority, cultural minority and/or faith minority community”, or “are transgender”.
The new rules – enforced from April 1 – sparked uproar that people of different ethnicities and faiths could be treated differently under the law.
Ms Mahmood has written to the Sentencing Council – an independent body of 15 legal experts – urging them to abandon the guidance.
She said: “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. There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch.”
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer would wield his massive Commons majority to force a u-turn, the PM’s spokesman said: “The first step as the Justice Secretary set out is for her to write to the Sentencing Council. We await their response.”
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